Whispers of Doom
by ElfLord123
Summary: After destroying the Alpha Relay, and the entire Bahak System, Shepard returns to the Citadel to answer for what he has done. What he doesn't know: once this is all over, he will not want to destroy the reapers.
1. Consequences

"_Our time is approaching. You are sure our forces are ready?" _

"_Our lord has been planning this for many cycles. When our time comes, nothing can stop us." _

"_If they possess the power to destroy the old ones, surely they possess some threat to us, master." _

"_As I said, our lord has been planning this for many cycles. His power has been building for some time. He has power beyond even the old ones. Do not worry. Everything that has happened is part of the Great Design." _

"_Whose design?" _

"_The Dark One's. _

_Great armies of darkness shall rise and lay waste to all who stand in their way. By the gods, ships shall be built to carry warriors out amongst the stars and we shall cover the galaxy in shadows. The power of the Dark One shall be known by all. And, all shall bow before his power or be made unto dust." _

"_Hail The Dark One."_

"_All Hail The Dark One."_

* * *

><p>Have you ever been punished for doing the right thing?<p>

This was what Shepard was wondering as he stared out the window as the _Normandy_ approached the Citadel. The destruction of the Alpha Relay had cost the lives of countless batarians. Shepard knew that it was for a good cause, if that relay was not destroyed then the reapers would have returned, but he also knew the Council would not believe it. They have already called him to the Citadel to explain his actions.

Shepard felt the docking clamps latch onto his ship, giving the _Normandy_ a gentle jolt.

"We're here, Shepard," Joker said solemnly. Shepard gave a tired nod. It was time. He straightened his back and walked to the door. His crew stared, wondering what will happen to their commander.

Shepard walked up to the door and gave a sigh. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Miranda was behind him with the rest of his team.

"Don't lose hope, Shepard," she said. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot to him. It felt good to know they never lost hope in him.

Shepard stared at the door, almost dreading to go through it. People didn't in the reapers. They won't believe that he destroyed the relay to stop them from coming. He could barely imagine what people were thinking.

"Here goes nothing," Shepard muttered as he stepped through the door. Shepard was almost grateful for the decontamination process; it would give him more time before he goes to face the crowd.

For years Shepard as faced everything thrown at him and stayed strong. The Council didn't believe his story about Saren but he refused to back down. The Council didn't believe his story about the reapers, but he refuses to back down. People thought he was a traitor for working with Cerberus, but he stayed strong. Now…he has to stay strong to face what he has done.

The door hissed and slid open. Shepard strolled out of the ship and paused. All around him, people had stopped and stared. They watched Shepard like a jury that had already deemed him guilty.

Shepard continued walking. He could hear them whispering about him. This must be what Tali felt like when she was on trial.

"MURDERER!" someone from the crowd yelled. Shepard ignored that comment, continuing to walk forwards. He could practically feel their gaze boring through him.

Shepard knew he shouldn't care. It shouldn't matter what they thought of him. He did everything he could to save as many lives as possible. That should be all that mattered. Their opinion of him shouldn't mean anything…but it did.

He was glad to leave the hangar, Shepard was glad to be out of the crowd. Fewer people were wandering around the halls; most of them ignored Shepard as he walked by. He knew he would have to check in with C-Sec before he did anything. Shepard passed through the security terminal, his face as stiff as stone. He couldn't show what he was feeling. He didn't become the famous John Shepard by showing everyone what he felt.

A pair of C-Sec officers was waiting for Shepard, their weapons raised as if he was going to draw his gun and go on a massacre. Shepard was only glad there were not batarian officers.

He let himself be escorted through the halls of the Citadel. Before, the citizens didn't recognize Shepard so they walked by without staring. Now, with the two C-Sec officers escorting him, everyone almost immediately knew who it was.

Shepard kept thinking about the alpha relay. Was there some other way he could have done it? He had to destroy the relay, and that meant destroying that entire system. Could there have been another way to warn the batarians? Maybe he could've saved the lives of everyone in that system. Maybe if he did, the Council would actually listen to what he had to say. Instead the batarians died and he has to answer to the Council what he's done.

"That's far enough," a familiar voice said, flinging Shepard back to reality. Bailey walked up to them, his sidearm holstered. "I'll take it from here," he said flatly. The two C-Sec officers exchanged uncertain glances. They weren't willing to let Shepard out of their sight. But, Bailey refused to back down. After a moment, the two officers left, grumbling angrily.

"Sorry you had to go through that," Bailey said as he began to escort Shepard.

"You don't hate me like everyone else?" Shepard asked in surprise. He didn't expect Bailey to believe in him.

"They don't hate you," Bailey said.

"Well, they certainly have me fooled," Shepard replied sarcastically.

"They just don't know what to think. You need to see it from their point of view." Bailey trusted Shepard, but he also understood how everyone else felt. As far as they know, Shepard blew up the relay to kill batarians.

"I did that for the good of the galaxy!" Shepard argued, rage burning through his blood. He had risked his life and cost the lives of thousands to save trillions and the galaxy wants to condemn him for it.

"I know that, Shepard!" Bailey snapped. "I know you would've only blown up that relay for a good reason, but this is a bad spot you're. You can't blame people for jumping to conclusions! I'm on your side, but I can't help you. Williams has already done everything she could to-"

"Williams?" Shepard repeated. "Ashley?" Bailey nodded.

"She's been trying to convince the Council of the reapers," he explained. "Not much luck though."

Shepard simply nodded.

He could only imagine Ashley still being unsure what to think about him. She was already stunned he was working with Cerberus. He couldn't imagine how she reacted when she heard that he destroyed and entire system.

Shepard was about to turn the corner when he froze. Something didn't feel right. He looked at the crowd behind him, not sure what he was looking for. People were going about their business as usual. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Yet…something was bothering him.

Who was that figure? Who is that shadowy person staring at him?

"You all right?" Bailey asked when he noticed the grim look on Shepard's face.

"Yeah," Shepard lied, still staring at the crowd. He shrugged off the feeling and walked away. But, if had just stayed there a few seconds longer, he would have seen it.

The crowd almost seemed to part, revealing a shadowy hooded figure, his face covered by a grotesque black mask. The figure's black trench coat swayed like living darkness.

"Shepard," the figure breathed, his cold snake-like voice pierced the air like nails scratching across a chalkboard.

The crowd seemed to engulf him…and he was gone.

* * *

><p>The presidium was brighter and more beautiful the ever. The rays of light made it seem like earth on a spring day. Dozens of people happily moved about, talking.<p>

The balconies had a great view of the presidium. Too bad it was not under better circumstances.

The elevator door opened and Shepard and Bailey walked out. The holograms of the three councilors waited at the edge of the balcony.

"That will be all Captain Bailey," the asari councilor said. Bailey gave a nod.

"Good luck, Shepard," Bailey said before turning and heading back into the elevator. Shepard faced the council, ready to deal with whatever political bull he has to put up with.

"Well, Shepard," the turnian councilor remarked as Bailey vanished into the elevator. "It seems Cerberus has been rubbing off on you." Shepard had to keep his temper in check. He knew no matter what he said, he would never be able to persuade the turian councilor of anything.

"How does it feel to commit mass genocide?" the turian mocked. "Was it Cerberus's initiation?"

"Enough!" the asari councilor snapped, stepping in. "We are here to discuss Shepard's actions and the consequences for them. We're not here to berate him." Shepard knew the he had a better chance of convincing the asari councilor of what he had to say. She has always seemed to be open minded to him in the past. But, Shepard didn't know what to say this time.

She believed the Shepard believes in the reapers but she doesn't believe in them herself. This would make Shepard look crazy, destroying a relay and killing thousands over something that doesn't exist.

"Let me guess," the turian said. "He blew up the relay to stop the reapers. That seems to be his excuse for everything now."

"Where's Councilor Anderson?" Shepard asked, finally speaking up. The turian and asari councilors finally stopped arguing and looked at Shepard.

"Anderson is currently attending a meeting regarding classified matters," the salarian said. Shepard didn't know what to think about the salarian. He wasn't as open to him as the asari councilor, but he definitely wasn't as stubborn as the turian councilor.

Classified? That word echoed in Shepard's brain. He had enough to deal with already. The last thing he needs is a conspiracy.

"We must keep this meeting brief," the asari said. "We too might be called to assist with the issue."

Shepard gave sigh. Usually, Anderson or someone on his crew was by his side. Not this time. He was on his own on this one.

"When we reinstated your spectre status, our agreement was for you to keep your actions restricted to the Terminus Systems," the salarian councilor said. "What were you doing in the Bahak System?"

"I was called there," Shepard explained. He hesitated before speaking again. If he said too much he might accidentally incriminate Admiral Hackett. But, the Council needs to know. They have to listen or they will lose everything they know and love. "Amanda Kenson had found evidence of the reapers."

"Really?" the turian asked sarcastically. "And, where is this evidence?" Shepard gave an annoyed grumble. His fist clenched in frustration.

"It was destroyed with the rest of the Bahak System," Shepard said grimly.

"How convenient the only evidence of the reapers is destroyed," the turian hissed.

"That does not explain why you had to destroy the system's mass relay," the salarian said. Shepard was hoping to avoid answering this question.

"Was it because of the reapers?" the turian sneered. Shepard gave a stiff nod.

"It was," he said. "They were going to return through that relay. I HAD TO destroy it!" The turian scoffed. Shepard noticed the salarian's grim expression, unsure what to think. If Shepard can kill thousands of people to fight a delusion what else can he do?

Shepard turned to the asari councilor, hoping to have her support. But, even she was looking grim on this situation.

"Shepard, we appreciate what you did at the Battle of the Citadel, but…" the asari councilor said, speechless by what happened.

"Shepard is obviously a loose cannon," the turian councilor said. "He cannot be trusted. He'll be gunning down civilians the Citadel to "fight the reapers"!"

"I wish I could convince you," Shepard said solemnly. "The galaxy will burn because of you."

"I don't think so, Shepard," the turian leered.

"You don't get it, do you?" Shepard shouted. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not! The reapers are coming and we can either stand together to face them or we'll all be destroyed." The turian councilor was not listening.

"I suggest we revoke Shepard's spectre status and-"

"It is not up to use to decide what happens to Shepard," the asari councilor broke in. Shepard looked at her in surprise and the turian councilor looked as if Christmas had been canceled.

Before any more could be said, all three councilors all turned as if someone was talking to them.

"This meeting's going to have to be cut short," the salarian councilor said. Shepard looked at them in surprise. He watched as the Councilors' expression changed from grim, to surprised, to worried.

"Shepard, you are confined to the Citadel until further noticed," the turian added.

"This meeting is adjourned," the asari councilor finished before the three holograms faded away. Shepard growled angrily. That went better than he had hoped but they still won't believe him.

* * *

><p>Back on the <em>Normandy<em>, Garrus was in the mess with Grunt, each one gorging down a ice cream from the icebox beside the table they were sitting at. They both looked up from their dessert as Joker came hobbling down, careful not to snap his legs.

"Ice cream?" Joker asked, eyeing the cup Garrus was holding.

"We're probably not going on any more mission for a while," Garrus said, taking another spoonful. "Might as well."

Joker sat down beside Grunt, taking a fork from the counter. He looked over at Grunt's cup of ice cream. The krogan had nearly eaten it all but there was still a little left. Joker stared at the creamy, chocolate chip ice cream. He could just taste the fudge rolling across his tongue with a wave of sweet perfection.

Joker reached over with his fork. Seeing Joker make a move on his ice cream, Grunt tore his cup back, giving the pilot the familiar '_get your own_' look. His eyes still locked on Joker, with his ice cream in one hand, Grunt reached back, opened the icebox, grabbed a new cup of ice cream, and put his in Joker's hands.

Joker shrugged, not wanting to upset the giant krogan, and opened his cup of ice cream.

"Well, this is new," Joker said, not sure what to say at all. He dug his fork into his ice cream and took a bite, the creamy vanilla flowing across his tongue.

"Not really," Garrus answered, taking another bite of his Oreo ice cream. Grunt began scraping his now empty cup of ice cream clean of any left. "Shepard had to face the Council about his decisions on our first mission. Remember?" Joker gave a scoff and a shrug.

"Yeah, but back then I could cut them off with the press of a button," he snickered. Joker has always wanted to cut the Council off in the middle of one of their speeches.

Joker was about to get another scoop of ice cream when he saw Grunt reach and place his ice cream in Joker's hands, taking the pilot's ice cream for himself. Joker stared at Grunt's empty cup of ice cream as Grunt began to gorge down on a new cup.

Joker glared at Grunt with his '_What the crap?_' look.

"He's back!" someone yelled. Shepard's crew rushed out the door, eager to greet their commander and find out what happened.

Joker slowly got up and began limping forwards. He had to wait for the crowd to exit first. He couldn't move as fast as everyone else and he'd probably break his leg if he tried.

As the last of the crew left the ship, Joker slowly followed with Garrus and Grunt right behind him.

The crew gathered around Shepard as he marched in. Dock workers watched with the crew.

"How'd it go, Commander?" Joker asked, breaking through the crowd.

"Well it wasn't easy," Shepard said. "Then again, if it was easy, it'd be not fun," he added jokingly.

"I could go for easy," Joker said with a shrug. Shepard noticed a quarian making her way through the crowd.

Tali went up to Shepard and looked into his eyes. Being on trial before, she knew what Shepard was going through. But, this was different. Shepard knew exactly how to help Tali. He went through the trial as if he knew exactly what to do. This time, she didn't know how to help Shepard.

Almost as if he knew what was going through Tali's mind, Shepard put his hand on her cheek and said, "Thanks."

Shepard looked at his crew. No matter what he was facing, he was still their commander.

"We're confined to the Citadel," he announced. "But, that does not mean this is over. I will try to convince the Council. What happens is my problem. Take these next few days for some R&R." The crew nodded happily. No matter what everyone else thought of Shepard, they considered him a hero. Not to mention, rest and recreation wasn't a bad idea either.

"How about a drink?" Shepard offered Tali, putting an arm around her. "Oh, wait," Shepard said when he remembered something: Tali's wearing a helmet, she can't drink anything.

Tali burst out laughing.

"I could go for that," she said with a smile. Shepard's and Tali's relationship was well known among the crew.

"Disgusting!" Grunt muttered as he walked off.

"They're so cute," Kasumi said to Garrus from the corner where they watched. Kasumi has always liked Tali and was glad she finally got the person she wanted.

"I miss the days when Shepard didn't have a girlfriend," Garrus commented.

"Garrus, Kasumi," came a hoarse whisper. The two of them turned around and noticed Thane behind them. "We're being watched," the drell said.

"Where?" Garrus asked. Garrus felt the adrenaline rush through his body. He looked around, searching for the person Thane was talking about.

"The balcony," Thane whispered. Kasumi and Garrus peered up at the balcony that almost seemed to hang over the docks. Thane was right. In the balcony, wearing a black trench coat, was a shadowy hooded figure whose face was covered by a black grotesque mask. The person was just barely visible in the shadows that covered the balcony.

"Hostile?" Garrus asked.

"I cannot tell," Thane answered.

"Then why are we worried about him?" Kasumi asked with a shrug. She didn't think that a person watching them was something to be worried about.

"He might not be hostile," Thane admitted.

"But, if he was," Garrus quickly added. "That would be the perfect place to snipe someone." Garrus remembered his training. The hooded figure had a clear shot on Shepard from the balcony. And, with the shadows, he could quickly disappear and no one would know where the shot came from.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Garrus said. "Kasumi, you cloak and sneak up on him, find out what he's doing."

"Got it one-shot," Kasumi said cheerfully before cloaking and disappearing from sight.

"One-shot?" Thane asked. Garrus grumbled in annoyance.

"It's her nickname for me," he explained. "A sniper's motto is 'one shot, one kill'."

Garrus turned and eyed the dark figure. The figure blended so well into the shadows it was almost impossible to tell what it was doing. He squinted at the darkness. The figure was moving… reaching into his coat. From his coat came…what was that…came a Collector particle beam!

"SNIPER!" Garrus yelled. Sudden silence fell upon the crowd like a heavy rain as everyone turned to look at what Garrus was panicked about. And, as quickly as it had quieted, chaos fell upon the crowd. People screamed and stampeded out. Shepard grabbed Tali and threw himself over her.

Thane ran for the stairs that led to the balcony, hoping he could get to the assassin. Garrus immediately took aim and fired his sniper rifle. The flash from his gun lit up the corner, revealing the black silhouette that unleashed a beam of energy that tore through the floor where Shepard was standing mere moments ago.

The assassin aimed his rifle at Shepard, who was trying to get Tali to safety. With no one to interfere, this shot will be the one to kill him. The assassin was just about to pull the trigger when he was suddenly thrown backwards.

Garrus watched as the assassin disappeared from his scope and into the darkness. He had no shot.

"Who is this guy, an angry batarian?" Garrus wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Shepard growled. "But I'm going to find out."

* * *

><p>The assassin snarled furiously as he looked for his attacker, but there was no one to be seen.<p>

The assassin grunted in pain as he felt the air knocked right out of him from a kick to his chest and a punch to his face. It was then he knew: his attacker was cloaked.

A red omni-tool formed around the assassin's arm as he began to quickly type into it. He could hear the footsteps of his attacker, who he knew was Kasumi. He didn't have much time. Kasumi charged again, ready to deliver another kick, when the assassin suddenly unleashed an electrical shockwave. Kasumi was thrown back, her cloak immediately deactivated. Her head was spinning when she hit the ground. It felt like someone had cracked her over the head with a cinder block.

Kasumi was about to jump back to her feet when she realized the barrel of a collector particle beam was right in her face.

"Don't move," the assassin hissed. Kasumi stared down the barrel of the particle beam. The assassin was so determined to kill Shepard yet she was now at his mercy and he hasn't killed her. Why?

It didn't matter.

Thane came up behind the assassin, his biotics crackling over his skin like blue fire. The assassin was thrown into the wall, his particle beam falling to the ground.

Thane pulled out his pistol but the assassin lunged forwards and knocked it out of the drell's hands. Thane gave a grunt as the assassin kicked him in the chest, throwing the drell backward.

The assassin was about to lunge at Thane when he noticed Shepard. The commander had come up himself with his assault rifle in hand. Instinctively, Shepard pulled the trigger and sprayed a quick burst of bullets at his target. The assassin jumped backwards in an attempt to dodge the bullets, but one grazed him across the face.

There was a clink as the mask flew off his face. The assassin fell to the ground in a heap, growing angrily as he looked up at Shepard. Shepard looked at his enemy, interested in seeing who was so determined to kill him. As the figure turned his head light poured onto his face, revealing the identity of the attacker

"What?" Kasumi gasped when she saw the face of the assassin.

"How is that possible?" Thane growled. The same question ran through Shepard's mind. How was this possible? Staring at them under the shadow cast by its hood, through its four glowing eyes, was a collector.

Realizing his mask had fallen off, the collector immediately grabbed it and put it back on his face. Shepard walked up the collector aimed his rifle at it, a thousand questions running through his brain. Shepard was not going to let the collector escape. If it runs, he will pull the trigger and riddle it with bullets.

"Not bad, Shepard," the collector chuckled, his snake-like voice sending chills down Shepard's spine. "Not bad at all."

In a single motion, the collector swung his leg, kicking the rifle out of his way. Shepard pulled the trigger but the bullets sprayed into the wall. As the collector jumped back to his feet as Shepard aimed his gun again. With another kick, Shepard felt his gun knocked away. He stumbled back as the assassin gave another kick to his stomach.

Shepard looked back up but the assassin was gone. He had cloaked and run off.

_**This is probably going to be a short story, probably a couple of chapters. Please review. Tell me what you guys think. What did I do good at? What should I improve? I'm hoping this story is going to go in a different direction with the reaper plot. So, thanks for reading.  
><strong>_


	2. Secrets

_500 Billion years ago…_

"_You have finally managed to rally the fleet against me." _

"_We have granted you amnesty in the past, but now, you have done the unspeakable. You are to cease your experiments and destroy all your data immediately." _

"_I think not, Harbinger." _

"_I command the full forces of the fleet. You cannot survive this many ships. You have no choice; turn over your experiments…or be destroyed." _

"_You can do nothing but utter empty threats. You do not possess the power to kill me."_

"_Nothing you learned from your experiments will save you. Obey, or be wiped from existence." _

"_Your words mean nothing; take action! Strike me down. Do it! Or I will continue my experiments." _

"_You bring your own doom upon yourself. You will fall with the rest of this galaxy before this Cycle of Extinction is complete. You will burn for your treachery." _

"_Of that, you are gravely mistaken."_

* * *

><p>"How is that possible?" Miranda wondered out loud. Shepard had gathered his squad in the briefing room. Each one was equally stunned. They had gone with Shepard into the Collector Base. They were there when it was destroyed. "We blew up the Collector Base."<p>

"Could one of them have escaped?" Jacob suggested.

"Possible, base might contain escape pods," Mordin jabbered, but he then remembered his research into the collectors. "Even so, collectors have no individual intelligence. Drones. All work for hive mind. Collector General is now dead. No master to serve."

"Could they have found a new master?" Shepard asked.

"Collectors are bred to serve reapers," Mordin explained. "Genetically impossible to find new master. Collectors serve Collector General. Collector General serves reapers. No Collector General. No way for reapers to control collectors."

"Why couldn't it have been a batarian?" Jacob groaned, thinking of how simple it would have been if it was an angry batarian wanting revenge on Shepard.

"This collector, it wasn't like any I've fought before," Shepard said. "We've beaten entire squads of these things before. This one nearly beat us and still got away."

"It could be an elite of some sort," Tali said with a shrug. "Legion was given programming to work outside the geth network. Couldn't the collectors have done the same thing?"

"This platform was programmed to operate outside the geth network to complete an objective," Legion explained in his monotone voice, the flaps on his head slowly raising then lowering.

"To find me," Shepard said.

"Yes," Legion beeped. "We conclude that a collector would only be designed to operate outside their collective network in order to execute a mission."

"To retrieve Shepard's body," Miranda said, remembering when she had to revive Shepard.

"I don't think so," Garrus spoke up. "If he snipes Shepard he wouldn't be able to grab the body."

"It doesn't matter what the wants," Shepard said. "We need to find it and kill it. EDI." EDI's blue avatar appeared on the desk beside him.

"Yes, Shepard?" she asked.

"I want you to constantly monitor all the surveillance feed in and around this ship," Shepard ordered. "If there's even a hint that the collector's here, I want to hear it."

"I also have the surveillance footage of your crew engaging the collector," EDI said.

"Send it up to my quarters. Crew dismissed."

Everyone made their way out of the room, until only Tali and Legion were left. Tali remembered how, before the suicide mission, she hated being in the same room with the geth. All she could think about back then was how they drove her people off from their homeworld. Now…she didn't mind as much. She understood what Shepard was trying to tell her. What happened back then has already happened. They can't change the past. All they can do is try to create a better future, and working with Legion is her best chance of getting the homeworld back.

Legion walked up to Tali, a single flap on its head raised in curiosity.

"Perspiration levels, heart rate, and breathing rate suggest creator Tali'Zorah is currently in an unstable emotional state," Legion droned.

It was as if the geth had just read her mind. The reapers were coming and they had to find a way to stop them. They had to find a way to unite the galaxy and the Council was making sure that no one would believe in the reapers. Shepard was facing criminal charges. Someone is out to kill Shepard. And, the collectors might have survived from the attack on their base.

"It's nothing," she said. Just as she was about to walk out the door, she felt Legion wrap his metal arms around her. Her body went stiff in surprise, not sure how to react.

"What was that?" she finally asked as Legion let go and took a step back.

"Data files on organic behavior have shown that the 'hug' is given to an individual who is in an unstable emotional state," Legion explained. "You share an intimate relationship with Shepard Commander, who is currently facing criminal charges. This and a number of other events have placed you in an unstable emotional state. We have deemed a hug was appropriate."

Tali felt her jaw drop. Legion actually cared about how she was feeling. He actually did something that she never thought a geth was capable of doing. She could not believe it. Legion was actually trying to make her feel better.

"Thank you…Legion," she managed to say. "I…I appreciate it," she added sincerely.

* * *

><p>Miranda paced back in forth in front of the line of security officers. When she first started her mission with Shepard, everyone knew and viewed her as a cold heartless woman. She was strict to business and someone no one wanted to be in a room with. Originally, only Jacob seemed to get through to her. He was the only one Miranda ever seemed to be kind to. But, even with Jacob, she was still cold hearted around everyone else…until Shepard. He somehow got through to her. He somehow melted the ice around her heart. Everyone agrees. She is now much happier than when she first started, but she still can turn heartless when she thinks it is needed.<p>

"I want every entrance into the _Normandy_ guarded by at least four guards," Miranda scowled coldly. All the security officers were completely stiff, not wanting to anger the former Cerberus operative. "I want every hallway patrolled and every surveillance camera monitored. If that thing thinks he can get close to Shepard, he's wrong! That thing is not getting anywhere near Shepard, are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the officers all said in unison. They marched off to get the security read.

As the last of them left, Miranda was left with an empty room. She had not been cold for a long time, so long that she almost felt guilty for doing it.

"You don't have to be so harsh, you know," came Jacob's voice from across the room.

"We can't afford pleasantries, Jacob," Miranda said, doing her best to hide her emotions. "The reapers are coming and Shepard's our only hope at stopping them. If he dies then the galaxy will follow."

"You sure that's what you're worried about?" Jacob asked. He had known Miranda for so long he could practically read her like a book.

"It's just that…" Miranda said, trying to find the words for it. She rarely ever lets anyone know what she is feeling. "Shepard's done a lot for me."

"He means a lot to you too," said Jacob, filling in the blanks. "He means a lot to all of us." Miranda nodded blankly.

"Our friendship with Shepard isn't what matters," she said, straightening her back. "He's our only hope for when the reapers come."

Almost as soon as Miranda said that Shepard came through the door, his arm around Tali. They were both laughing happily. They both stopped when they realized Jacob and Miranda were in the room.

"What're you guys still doing here?" Shepard asked.

"Setting up security," Miranda said, stunned that Shepard could be acting so casual.

"I'll be fine," Shepard said. "Go take some time off."

"Shepard, someone's out to kill you," Miranda said, as if she was trying to talk some sense into him.

"I'll be fine," Shepard insisted. "Go take some R&R, captain's orders."

"You sure about this, Commander?" Jacob asked hesitantly. Shepard never answered his question.

"Going for coffee," the commander said as he walked out the door with Tali in his arm.

* * *

><p>"Earlier today, an assassination attempt on the life of hero John Shepard has failed. C-Sec refuses to comment on the matter but witnesses say a sniper fired on Shepard outside of his ship, the <em>Normandy<em>."

"I guess we once again have the race of killer sentient starships to blame for this crime."

"Not this time. More than likely the shooter is a batarian pirate who stowed away on a ship to kill Shepard to exact revenge for his recent terrorist attack on their colonies in the Bahak System."

"You couldn't be further from the truth," Shepard said as he watched the news. He took another sip of his coffee.

"Don't think about them," Tali said as she stirred her cup of coffee. As Shepard drank the last drop in his cup he reached over for the one in front of Tali.

"Hey, that's my coffee!" Tali laughed as she slid it away from Shepard's hands.

"You can't even drink coffee!"

"I don't care. I bought it. It's my coffee."

The two of them looked over when they heard someone spit in disgust. Apparently Grunt was also drinking coffee at another table.

"You call this coffee?" he groaned. Shepard knew Grunt loved coffee. He could hardly imagine what the krogan felt when he realized he had ordered decaf by accident.

"Funny how things turn out," Tali commented. "The fate of the galaxy is at stake and we still seem to find time for ourselves."

Shepard snorted. He knew Tali was right, but he didn't care. It was nice, finding some time with the people you care about. No matter how dark it got, Shepard always found time to be with his friends. For him it showed that there will always be light even in the darkest times.

"It feels good, though," Shepard said. "Taking one day off from 'end of the world'." Shepard felt his hands slowly slide forwards, as if they were being called out by an unknown force. Slowly, Shepard felt his hand slide over Tali's. She looked at him without a word, not sure what to say. She usually would start babbling but now no words could describe what she was feeling.

Shepard was being charged with terrorism. The reapers are coming. And, there's a collector out to kill Shepard. But, all that could wait. Right now, all Tali and Shepard were doing was cherishing one another. The end of the world could wait.

Shepard slowly stood up, his hand gently brushing Tali's shoulder.

"I'll be right back," he said. Tali nodded.

As Shepard walked away he was glad that he could hide his emotions. There was something he needed to take care of. Shepard made his way past the tables, through the crowd of people. Once he was on the other side of the food court Shepard took a seat at another table.

"Took you long enough to notice me," a snake-like voice hissed coldly. Sitting across from Shepard, still wearing his mask, was the collector assassin.

"I'm guessing you're the one who followed me when I first got back to the Citadel," Shepard said, remembering how he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched when C-Sec was escorting him to see the Council.

"And, long before that," the collector said as he lifted something up and dropped on the table with a loud crash. Shepard could hardly believe what he was seeing. It was as if a friend he hasn't seen in decades had just walked through the door. On the table, scratched, cracked, and scorched, was his N7 helmet from before the original _Normandy_ got attacked by the collectors.

"Your geth was not the only one looking for you," the collector said emotionlessly.

"_Legion_," Shepard corrected, "didn't try to kill me. And now, you decide to sit down to talk with me."

"I've been thinking about things since our initial encounter," the collector hissed. "You have defused situations by talking your way out. You convinced Saren to kill himself. You've solved hostage situations by convincing the hostage taker to release the hostage. Words are often the most formidable weapon in one's arsenal. I've decided to try again, using a more…subtle approach."

"And, what is it you want to say?" Shepard asked impatiently, crossing his army. He fingered the edge of his pistol, which he could easily pull out at any time.

"You must not destroy the reapers, Shepard," the collector said.

"If the reapers aren't destroyed then everyone in this galaxy'll be wiped out!" Shepard snapped. He felt like an idiot expecting something different from a collector. They failed to stop Shepard and now the last one of their race is making a desperate attempt to convince him to not stop the reapers.

"Give me your word you will stop," the collector hissed venomously. "If you don't, I will have no choice but to kill you." Shepard's hands began feeling the bottom of his chair. His legs slowly brushed against the table. He was sure that there was some sort of reaper artifact hidden somewhere. The collector was probably trying to buy time while an artifact indoctrinates him. But, he couldn't find any reaper artifact.

"Why should I stop?" Shepard asked. Before the collector could answer, Shepard heard heavy footsteps come up behind him. Three C-Sec guards walked up to him.

"John Shepard," one of them said. "The Council will see you now."

"Thank you," Shepard replied, glancing back at the seat across from him, but the collector was gone.

* * *

><p>The Citadel was home to many species…and many secrets. The reapers originally built the Citadel as a means to return to the galaxy but it has now become the home to something much darker.<p>

The lights flickered, the flashes revealing something at the side of the room. It was a specimen tank of some sort. The glass was completely fogged up, obscuring the thing inside from view. If someone had been in that room, they would've said how lucky they were that they could not see what was inside. But, luck never lasts. There was a click as the specimen tank opened, leaking a thick cloud of fog across the room. A soft guttural clicking echoed the room. Whatever was in there…it was free.

* * *

><p>Shepard quietly walked down an empty corridor in the Citadel. He had once again been called by the Council, this time in the council chambers, but, they got called away again. Shepard was really annoyed now. He had hoped that they could come to a verdict soon. Whether they decided to convict him or not, it was a lot better than just waiting.<p>

"Shepard," Miranda said as she and Jacob appeared from around the corner. Shepard looked behind his back to make sure no one was following him before he walked up to them.

"How'd it go?" Jacob asked.

"They still haven't reached a decision yet," Shepard said, trying to hide his frustration.

"You don't think they'll actually charge you?" Miranda wondered. Shepard saved the Citadel, the Council, and saved humanity from the collectors. She could barely believe the council would rather charge Shepard with terrorism than believe him.

"We'll see," Shepard said, his voice trailing off when he saw movement behind Miranda. A C-Sec guard was crawling across the floor, his armor covered in scorch marks and blood.

"Help…me," the guard croaked weakly before falling limp. The three of them rushed to the guard's side but it was too late.

"He's dead," Jacob said grimly. The human guard was completely limp, his mouth open and his eyes wide in fear. As Shepard turned the body over he could see where the guard had been shot, but these weren't bullet holes. Small craters of charred flesh and molten armor revealed where the guard had been shot.

Shepard got up and looked at the floor. There was a trail of smeared blood that showed the guard had come crawling through the door not too far down the hall.

"Where does this hall lead?" Shepard asked. Something had gone down that hall and he was going to find out what it was. Jacob and Miranda exchanged nervous glances.

"It leads to the councilors' private quarters," Miranda finally answered. The three of them looked down when the guard's radio crackled to life.

"This is Bailey," an iron-hard voice crackled. "I heard gunfire. What's going on out there?"

"This is Shepard."

"Shepard? How'd you get on this channel?"

"Something's headed for the Councilors' private quarters!" Shepard yelled quickly. Whatever it was, it was definitely way ahead of them. He did not have time to explain what happened. He had to go after it now. "I'm going after it!"

"Shepard, wait!" Bailey protested.

"Don't try and stop me," Shepard said stubbornly.

"The councilors aren't in their quarters," Bailey explained. There was a long pause as Bailey hesitated. "I'm not supposed to be revealing this to you, but they're away to deal with diplomatic issues." Shepard felt relief flood his body. At least he wasn't on a time constraint like usual, but he still had an opportunity to find out who wanted to try to assassinate the Council.

"Come on," Shepard said to his squad as he pulled out his matlock rifle. He was glad that the Council didn't ban him from carrying weapons. Miranda pulled out her locust submachine gun while Jacob cocked his eviscerator shotgun.

"Shepard," Bailey said. Shepard paused for a moment, just for a moment to hear what Bailey had to say.

"Good luck."

As they ran down the hall, they saw the bodies of dozens of other C-Sec guards were strewn across the floor.

"What could've done this?" Miranda wondered when she saw the massacre. Every guard was killed in the same way. Every body was limp and was covered in small pits of charred flesh.

"We're going to find out," Shepard said. In front of them, hanging off its twisted hinges, was the door that led into the Councilor's private chambers. The door was mangled, the holo-panel that would open the door was smashed, and the door frame was crooked. Someone had wanted to get in there real badly.

Shepard cautiously walked up to the door and gently tapped the door with the barrel of his gun. The door rocked back and forth, its hinges creaking as it strained to stay attached. Finally, the hinges gave way and the door fell to the ground with a loud bang.

Shepard and his squad cautiously entered the room, the barrels of their gun steady.

The councilors' quarters consisted of a lounge, where the councilors would privately meet to discuss issues, which had six halls. Each hall led to a private quarter. Four quarters were occupied while the remaining two were left in case more councilors were added.

The lounge was not the least bit trashed, except for the destroyed door.

The bodies of a pair of C-Sec officers, who were guarding the other side of the door, lay limp and broken on the ground. A small cloud of smoke slowly billowed out of their wounds, showing where they were shot.

"Not a single body," Miranda said. "They tore through an entire squad of C-Sec officers and there's not a single body of the attackers'."

"These guys must've been good," Jacob said, leaning over the body of a C-sec officer. He could see the chest slowly moving. "He's still alive!" Jacob yelled. Shepard and Miranda rushed over to the wounded C-Sec officer. They needed answers and this one officer might be their only source of information.

"Hey," Shepard said softly. The officer opened his eyes, groaning in pain. It felt like molten steak knives had been driven into him. "You're going to be all right."

"We don't have any medi-gel, Shepard," Miranda said. Shepard ignored her as he patted the dying turian on the shoulder.

"What happened here?" Shepard asked gently. The turian opened his mouth but ended up coughing blood.

"Take it easy," Jacob said as the turian leaned its head back.

"It was so strong," the turian finally said, his voice strained as he tried to take the pain. "We couldn't stop it."

"Who was it?" Shepard asked. He knew a lot of people who would want to kill the Council, but none of them capable of doing this. The turian looked around, terrified, as if he was afraid that someone would hear.

"One soldier…one-"

The turian never finished his sentence. A bolt of energy suddenly shot through the air, hitting the turian right in the head. There was a sickening splat as turian's body fell the ground.

The squad spun around. Standing in the door way of the hall of one of the private quarters stood a towering creature wearing pitch black armor with a skull-like helmet, staring at them through its glowing blue eyes. They could hear the creature's quiet guttural growls as it watched them, observed them.

Shepard took a step back in surprise, his blood turning cold. He has seen energy bolts like that before. They were biotic bolts thrown by collectors possessed by harbinger.

The squad unleashed a storm of bullets at the soldier, the bangs of the guns practically deafening them. They heard the bullets hit the creature, shattering on impact. The flashes lit up the room like a light show. Finally, they heard the click of the empty gun chamber.

They have gone on countless missions, gunning their way out of the worst situations. They looked up, expecting to see the creature's limp body on the ground. Instead, it was still standing, its armor unscathed.

Miranda felt her jaw drop. Jacob took an uneasy step back. Shepard clenched his gun even tighter. The creature was completely unaffected. The creature growled in annoyance, as if it didn't even feel the bullets. It slowly raised its arm before firing a volley of biotic bolts. Jacob had no time to react. He felt the bolts ram into his stomach, the bolts burning his flesh like molten metal. He took a step backwards, still unable to believe what was happening. He finally fell to the ground in a heap.

Miranda and Shepard dove for cover as the bolts flew right over their heads. Miranda sprung up and opened fire, spraying the creature with bullets. The bullets shattered on impact, doing nothing. The creature gave an ear-splitting primordial roar before charging up to her and slamming her against the wall. The creature whipped around and grabbed Shepard by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Shepard punched the creature in the face with everything he's got, but he yelled in pain. It felt as if he punched a rock wall.

The creature looked at Shepard, eyed him, examining him. He could hear the thing's rasping growl from under the helmet. He could not breathe. The creature's grip was like stone and it was squeezing the life out of him. He tried to breathe in but he could barely get a few short gasps.

Suddenly, the creature flew backwards, slamming into the wall with a ground-shaking crash. Pieces of debris from the wall fell on the creature, covering it in dust. Shepard fell to the ground, taking a gasp of air.

Jacob groaned in pain. He had used his biotics to slam the creature into the wall. His shields had absorbed most of the blast he had taken.

The creature got back to its feet, perfectly fine, snarling with bloodthirsty rage. It took a step forwards, just like Shepard wanted.

"Miranda!" Shepard yelled as he shot at the chandelier right above the creature. The chain holding the chandelier snapped and the whole thing crashed right on the creature, pinning it to the ground. "Miranda, help Jacob out of here!"

Miranda gave a weary nod as she went to help Jacob to his feet.

"Shepard!" Jacob yelled as Miranda tried to drag him out.

"I'll be fine!" Shepard yelled. He could already see the creature moving. It was trying to get up. It couldn't possibly be alive after all this? They already pounded it with enough firepower to take down a heavy mech.

Shepard could hear the crunch of broken glass as the creature began to lift the chandelier off its back. There was no fighting this thing…not now at least.

"Another day," Shepard muttered angrily before rushing down the hall. He hated retreating. It felt like he had failed. They had finally met an enemy that they could not take down. He had no choice. He couldn't fight back if he was dead.

Miranda and Jacob were already ahead of him. He rounded the corner and was surprised to see the two of them just standing there.

"What's going on?" Shepard yelled in disbelief. He then stopped on the spot when he saw the reason.

Chittering angrily with his particle beam in hand, aimed and steady, trapping them against the monster behind them was the collector assassin.

Shepard heard the roar of the creature behind them. It was free. Its heavy footsteps echoed down the hall as it began to make its way toward the squad.

Shepard looked back at the collector, who had his rifle aimed right at Shepard.

'This is it', Shepard thought. 'This is how it ends.' There was nothing they could do, trapped between the collector and the creature.

Without a word, the collector aimed and fired his rifle. The energy beam whizzed past Shepard's head. Shepard whipped around and saw the beam hit the creature right behind him. The monster roared as it took a step backwards. The beam actually seared into the armor, practically melting it.

This was their chance.

"GO!" Shepard yelled as he, Miranda, and Jacob dove out of the way. The collector didn't even try to stop them as another beam of energy seared across the creature's chest plate.

The creature roared and charged forward, grabbing the collector. The creature hissed venomously at the collector, taking a good look at his prey, before throwing him into the wall. Shepard heard the collector's yell. He turned around and watched as the creature storm up to the collector's unconscious body.

Shepard knew he should've just run. He knew he should've let the creature kill the collector. But, he didn't.

The creature lifted its foot, ready to crush the collector beneath him, when the entire hall rocked as a ball of fire engulfed the creature. The thing roared furiously and whipped around. Shepard had pulled out his grenade launcher and fired another grenade, engulfing the creature in another fireball, shaking the floor. Another grenade shook the hall again. Shepard was about to fire another grenade when he noticed the creature had stopped. It now stood in place, swaying back and forth. Finally, its leg buckled and it fell to one knee. It tried to crawl forward but it collapsed on the ground.

Shepard cautiously approached the creature's body, expecting it to jump back up. He tapped its head and jumped back, his grenade launcher ready. When nothing happened he gave the head a kick. No motion.

Shepard looked at Miranda and Jacob, who were staring at the creature in shock.

What was that thing?

* * *

><p><em><strong>So, another chapter. Once again, please review and comment. Tell me what you guys think and how I'm doing so far. I'm hoping to finish this story before the release of ME3. Like the description says: Shepard's not going to want to destroy the reapers once this is all over. <strong>_


	3. Revelations

"Careful," Dr. Chakwas said.

Shepard, Miranda, Jacob, Tali, and Garrus all stood outside a containment field placed around Mordin's lab. The creature had been brought up to Mordin's lab for study and Mordin had called Dr. Chakwas for help. The two them had already begun their examination of the creature, both of them wearing rebreathers. None of them knew what to expect or what they will find.

"Sturdy armor," Mordin commented. "Similar to the plating found on Sovereign and human-reaper."

"What are you saying, Mordin?" Shepard asked.

"Armor is of reaper design," Mordin explained.

"That explains how it was able to shrug off the bullets," Jacob said, rubbing the bandage that had been wrapped around his stomach where he was shot. Shepard looked at the clock on his omni-tool.

"You better find me something better," Shepard said. "I promised C-Sec I'd share the findings."

"I found it," Chakwas said all of a sudden. Mordin looked over in interest. "I found the seal to the helmet." Dr. Chakwas took her scalpel and began to cut into the seal of the helmet's facemask. Mordin held the body steady as a sickening grey fluid began to ooze out of the seam.

"I am not detecting any hazardous gases from the subject," EDI beeped.

"That's good to know," Miranda commented as she stared at the body on the table, not sure what to expect.

Mordin and Chakwas continued working as the grey liquid dripped onto the table. As they cut the rest of the faceplate they heard a quiet hissing, like air leaking from a slashed tire.

"Carbon monoxide detected from the subject," EDI beeped.

"Let's see what we got," Chakwas said. But, even as she said this, she didn't want to know. She dreaded finding out what was wearing this suit. She imagined the creature under the mask as something from her darkest nightmare.

Mordin wrapped his fingers around the edge of the faceplate and lifted it up. He set the black mask aside and saw the face beneath it.

"Keelah," Tali gasped.

"My god," Miranda breathed.

Mordin and Chakwas exchanged uncertain glances, both of them wanting to just turn and run.

Beneath the mask, staring at them with sunken eyes, beneath the grey ooze over its face, was a husk. Its head was grey and shriveled, looking as if it had belonged to a person who had died and been left in water for over a month to rot. Its flesh and skin looked diseased, turning a sickening color of blue and white. Its cybernetics was gray, wrapping around certain parts of the creature like some sort of infection or tumor.

"I'm taking a sample," Chakwas announced as she used a small rod to swab a piece of diseased flesh of the husk. Even as her hands approached the dead thing, she wanted to just pull them back. She kept expecting the husk to come back to life at any time.

"Despicable," Mordin said, looking at the abomination. "Unlike any husk seen before." What Mordin said was true. This thing looked even more diseased and zombified than the husks they were used to. It was definitely a lot stronger, faster, and smarter.

Chakwas placed the sample in a petri dish and sliding it under a scanner.

"What do you got, EDI?" Chakwas asked as the computer scanned the sample.

"Scans show genetic material from multiple species," EDI said. "I am reading krogan, turian, vorcha, asari, and human genetic material."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Shepard asked. He could already feel dread bubbling up in his stomach.

"It's almost like someone had turned one of each race into a husk, cut them up, then put them back together," Chakwas explained, looking at EDI's readings. "It's an mix of all of them."

"Or hybrid," Mordin suggested. "Possible a hybrid of all five races was made then turned into husk."

"Frankenstein's monster," Jacob said grimly.

"How does that help us?" Shepard asked impatiently.

"This creature has a characteristic of each of the races," Chakwas explained. "Human physiology is very adaptable. It was probably used as a base to attach the characteristic of the other species."

"Krogan and turians are naturally resilient," Mordin jabbered. "Possess asari biotics and vorcha regenerative abilities."

"So, how do we kill them?" Shepard finally asked the one question that was in his mind.

"The body's covered in burn marks," Chakwas said. "The armor may have been able to block bullets but it couldn't stop the particle beam or grenade launcher."

"What does that mean?"

"The energy from the weapon was able to get through the suit," she explained. "I'd say…heavy weapons?"

"Unable to confirm without further experimentation," Mordin ranted. Garrus looked at the thing, questions running through his mind.

"You think that collector knows something?" Garrus asked. Shepard shrugged. The collector didn't seem surprised when the creature.

"I'm going to find out though," he added.

* * *

><p>By now, the <em>Normandy<em> had so many people that they were running out of places to put them. The port and starboard observation decks were taken along with the port and starboard cargo holds. Jack likes her privacy at the bottom of the ship. Garrus doesn't work with someone staring at him. Nobody likes hanging out in engineering. The life support room was taken. If this keeps up they're going to have to start putting people in the bathrooms.

The collector was in the hangar, standing behind a security field EDI had put up. He was already awake, staring at Shepard with his arms folded behind his back. He was still as stone, not moving a muscle. With his mask and hood up, the collector almost looked human. But, he wasn't. Shepard had to remember that.

"Glad you survived that back there," Shepard said earnestly. The collector scoffed in disbelief.

"You actually care about my welfare?" he snorted.

"You wanted to talk," Shepard said, ignoring the comment. "Now, we have all the time in the world."

"No, we do not," the collector replied venomously, his voice ice cold. Shepard grumbled in annoyance. This guy was not making it easy.

"Let's start with this: what's your name?" Most of his crew didn't like the idea of a collector being onboard. But, something told him he should listen to what the bug has to say. It was the same nagging feeling that has pushed him to fight the reapers. Now, it was telling him to listen to the collector.

The collector paused for a moment, almost as if he was saddened by the idea of a name.

"I was once called Pariah," he finally said.

"Why Pariah?" Shepard asked. If he could get the loyalty of a collector, he would have found himself another powerful ally against the reapers. Getting a collector to work with them seemed crazy, but so did the idea of working with a geth, working with Cerberus, and attacking the collector base.

"Thousands of years ago, the first collectors were not obedient drones," Pariah explained. "The reapers had hoped to control free-thinking slaves. But, the more they thought, the more they questioned the reapers. I was among the first collectors. We were insubordinate to their will. When the reapers realized they had no choice but to use drones, they placed all free-willed collectors into stasis, hoping to find a way to make them submit to their will. We were deemed failures."

"If you were put in stasis, how'd you get out?" Shepard asked.

"The stasis pods malfunctioned," Pariah continued. "The other collectors died, but mine opened."

Shepard nodded, taking in what he heard. So, Pariah wasn't like Legion. He wasn't made to be independent. He was one of the reapers' screw-ups.

"Why the mask?" Shepard asked. He remembered when he first saw Pariah, he thought the assassin was a human, maybe even a quarian. With the mask on, Shepard sometimes forgot that it was a collector.

"You'd wear a mask too if you looked like a giant insect," the collector snorted as if it was the most obvious question. "Collectors aren't exactly the most inconspicuous of races and I needed a way into the Citadel."

"To find me," Shepard said, filling in the blanks. "Why?" he asked.

"To stop you from destroying the reapers," the collector replied. "If the reapers are destroyed, then this galaxy will fall with them."

"Why?" Shepard asked, folding his arms. "Why would the galaxy be destroyed if we kill the reapers?"

"Because of the Dark One," the collector said. Shepard gave Pariah a confused look.

"Who's the Dark One?" Shepard asked. Pariah turned around and looked away, staring at the metal wall.

"All collectors knew of the Dark One," he said blankly. "Little is known of the Dark One and we were forbidden to ask. What we did know was that the Dark One is an enemy of the reapers. He has been gathering his forces to fight them." From under his mask, Pariah closed his eyes, concentrating. He had to bring an old memory back to the surface. He could feel the memory at the back of his mind, flopping like a fish, just barely out his reach…just barely out of his grasp. Finally, he opened his eyes.

As he turned around to face Shepard, the commander noticed Pariah's eyes were glowing.

"_The cycle shall come to its end. _

_The old ones shall be defeated by the one who resisted their will._

_Yet, one shall remain: a fallen warrior imprisoned in the void. _

_Consumed by abyss, he shall plunge the galaxy into eternal darkness. _

_It will begin with a new hope. _

_And, it shall end in oblivion." _

Pariah's eyes stopped glowing. He looked at Shepard, who was dumbfounded by what he just saw.

"That was a prophecy all collectors were given," Pariah explained. "It tells of what will happen if the reapers fall. That thing we fought earlier, that is what we call wraith. It is an omen of his coming."

"You ever consider the possibility the Dark One doesn't exist?" Shepard asked. To him, it sounded like reaper propaganda. They were afraid that the races would one day unite and destroy them, so they create a myth to make everyone who wants to kill them afraid to see what happens.

"You ever consider the possibility that the old ones do not exist?" Pariah asked.

"I'm guessing the 'old ones' are the reapers," Shepard said.

"'Reaper' is a label created by the Protheans," Pariah explained hoarsely. "They are known by many names. The collectors know them as the 'old ones': the ones who have existed long before any can remember. Remember Shepard: if the reapers fall, so shall the galaxy."

"And if the reapers live, the galaxy will be destroyed anyways," Shepard argued, unsure whether to believe Pariah or not.

"The reapers want life to be reborn in the galaxy," Pariah croaked. "The Dark One wants life to be extinguished permanently."

Before Shepard could say another word, Joker's voice crackled through the PA system.

"Commander, we're getting a message from the Illusive Man," Joker said. "He wants to see you."

That name rang in Shepard's ears. Last they met, they fought over whether or not to keep or destroy the Collector Base. The Illusive Man couldn't convince Shepard to keep the base and it was destroyed. The commander was not keen on seeing the head of Cerberus again.

"I'm on my way down, Joker," Shepard said with a groan. The collector didn't seem to care, as if he had expected Shepard to be called away.

"Remember, Shepard: if the reapers die, then the rest of the galaxy will follow…forever," Pariah said darkly as Shepard left the room.

* * *

><p>The room hummed to life as a communications channel was opened with the Illusive Man. Shepard watched as the scraggily man appeared in front of him, puffing on a cigar and drinking a glass of wine.<p>

"Shepard," the Illusive Man said in surprise. He took another sip of his wine before putting the glass down. The orange holo-screens in front of him disappeared. "In all honesty, I thought you wouldn't answer."

"Well I did," Shepard said blankly. "I'm surprised that you want to talk…after what I did to the Collector Base." The Illusive Man took another sip of wine.

"That was over a month ago, and I'm not one to hold grudges," he said. "But, I am interested in the collector you captured." Shepard's muscles went stiff.

"How'd you know about that?" he asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.

"I have my sources, Shepard," came the Illusive Man's reply. "You should know that by now." Shepard didn't try to pursue the matter. He knew that the Illusive Man would avoid answering the question.

"What about him?" Shepard asked.

"We don't any access to collector technology, but having a live collector changes all this," the Illusive man said excitedly. "Cerberus is will pay highly for that collector alive."

"He's not like other collectors," Shepard argued. "He's not a drone. He's sentient, aware. I give him to you, and you'll just experiment on him like Cerberus did Jack."

"Jack's experimentation was conducted by a rogue branch," the Illusive Man said calmly. "Keep in mind: the collectors also serve the reapers."

"Not this one," Shepard replied smoothly. Even as the words left his mouth, he had some doubt about that. The collector did want Shepard to not kill the reapers.

"Don't let your ideals cloud your judgment," the leader of Cerberus persisted. "This is a great opportunity for humanity. Don't let it slip by."

"I'll consider it," Shepard grumbled. "There's one thing I want to ask you though."

"Go ahead," the Illusive Man said as he picked his glass of wine up for another sip.

"The collector mentioned someone called The Dark One."

Hearing this name, the Illusive Man froze. He didn't even take a sip of his wine.

"The Dark One?" he repeated as he set his glass of wine down. His holo-screen appeared back up in front of him as he began to quickly type into his computer.

"I've heard of that name before," the Illusive Man said blankly as he scrolled through his data. "Yes, here it is." Shepard took a step forward in interest.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Before it was destroyed, we were able to mine a significant amount of data from the derelict reaper," the Illusive Man explained. "Among the files was mention of a reaper who was banished from the rest of the fleet. He was stripped of his name, it was apparently forbidden to mention it, and he is imprisoned in limbo by the rest of the fleet. He's known by many titles: The Fallen One, The Dark One, The Forgotten One, The Forbidden One..."

"He's still a reaper," Shepard said. "We can take him down like we did Sovereign and like we will the rest of the reaper fleet."

"I don't think you understand how bad the Dark One is," the Illusive Man said, clearly worried. "He was banished because he committed crimes that even the reapers considered unspeakable."

Shepard felt a chill go down his spine. The reapers massacre countless lives every cycle. They experiment on people to achieve their needs. He could hardly think of a crime that the reapers would consider 'unspeakable'.

* * *

><p>Outside the <em>Normandy<em>, three figures approached the ship. It was a strange group: a turian and an asari wore black tarnished cloaks and hoods while a single human wearing a full suit of armor and a gas mask with a helmet.

"Hey!" a C-Sec guard nearby yelled. But the three did not stop. They continued, not bothering with the guard.

"Stop!" the C-Sec guard ordered when he saw the three figures approach the _Normandy_. The human looked at the guard as if he was supposed to be afraid for his life.

"Kill him," the human said bluntly. The guard stopped in his tracks when he realized the asari and turian had raised their rifles at him. With no one around, no one heard the gun shots. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

* * *

><p>"How is one reaper a greater threat than a fleet?" Shepard asked.<p>

"He has probably spent every Cycle of Extinction building his forces. In fact, he probably has a fleet of reaper ships beyond this galaxy as well."

"Why wait then?" Shepard asked. "If he is so powerful, why doesn't he destroy the reapers now?"

"You don't see?" the Illusive Man exclaimed in surprise, expecting Shepard to realize the answer. "You," he said. "Finally, after countless cycles, he has someone to destroy the reapers for him. He didn't destroy the reapers because he wants you to do it for him."

The room began to flicker. Shepard didn't even notice it at first, but the Illusive Man's image began to flicker away.

"Shepard?" the Illusive Man asked, his voice coming through cut up and distorted. The transmission was fading away, the scene around him flickering into nothingness.

"EDI?" Shepard asked uneasily. EDI's blue orb appeared on the consol, flickering violently. Shepard cursed under his breath. He knew what was happening. They were under attack.

* * *

><p>Pariah looked up in interest as the shield that imprisoned him began to flicker. He knew something was happening as he stared at the flickering shield, waiting it to turn off. Finally, it completely vanished. He was free.<p>

* * *

><p>Shepard rushed down the hall with his gun. The crew was off the ship so they were safe, but that means there's no one to stop the intruders. Without EDI, he didn't know where they were, but he had a pretty good guess.<p>

Shepard rushed into Mordin's lab and stopped in his tracks. The body, the wraith, was gone. Mordin was behind his desk, frozen stiff. Someone had shot him with a cryo-blaster and he was now stuck, covered in a thick layer of ice and frost.

"Mordin," Shepard said walking up the salarian. Mordin shivered, barely moving.

"I'm ok, Shepard," Mordin said. "Snap freezing, easily recoverable." He shivered as drops of ice-cold water slid down his arm.

"Took specimen and data," he warned. "Must get it back."

"I will," Shepard said, cocking his gun. "You sure you'll be fine?"

"Suffered worse," Mordin blabbered. Shepard looked at the salarian, reluctant to leave him like that. "Pursue intruders. Go." Shepard nodded before running out the door.

They didn't get very far. As Shepard walked through the door to the CIC, he saw them walking away. The turian had the body of the wraith slung over his shoulder.

"STOP!" Shepard yelled, his gun already aimed at one of them. The turian and the asari whipped around, drawing their rifles. The asari suddenly fell to the ground as Shepard riddled her with bullets. He didn't have time to shoot at the turian, who immediately opened fire. Shepard ducked behind cover as bullets sprayed the computers above him, spitting sparks and raining them down on the floor.

The turian yelled in pain and surprise as the elevator doors opened and a beam of energy shot out, cutting straight through him like a saw. Shepard looked out from behind his cover and watched as Pariah stepped off the elevator, his particle beam fixed on the last human.

Shepard stood up from behind his cover, his gun aimed at the last human.

"There's no way out for you!" Shepard yelled.

"It's over, Slade," Pariah hissed.

"On the contrary," Slade breathed hollowly, pulling out his hand cannon. "It has only just begun."

Pariah was suddenly thrown backwards with a thunderous bang that seemed to shake the entire ship. Slade had fired his hand cannon, hitting Pariah straight in the chest. The collector's barriers had absorbed the blast but it knocked him backwards.

Shepard unloaded his rifle into Slade. Metallic clanging echoed the ship with each bullet. When he looked up, he realized Slade had pulled out a rectangular shield and had taken cover behind it.

Without a moment's hesitation, Slade appeared from behind his shield and fired. Shepard's shields absorbed the blast and Shepard fell back against the computers behind him. It felt like a table had just been thrown at him.

Slade effortlessly threw the body of the wraith over his shoulder and began to make his way to the door.

"STOP!" Pariah snarled, jumping back to his feet.

"Don't bother," Shepard said to the collector as they watched Slade disappear through the door. "Thane," Shepard said through his radio. "A guy just walked out of the ship with the body."

"What?" Thane scoffed in confusion.

"I'll explain later," Shepard said. "Follow him. Do not let him see you."

"What does this mean?" Pariah asked, helping Shepard to his feet. Once back up, Shepard stuck out his hand.

"Welcome to the _Normandy_," Shepard said, the same greeting he gave to every new teammate. Pariah looked at Shepard's hand, hesitant at first, but then they shook. Shepard now had a collector on the team.


	4. Into the Void

"You sure about this?" Shepard asked, staring at the gray wall. Thane nodded confidently.

"I saw him pass through here," Thane said. Shepard put his ear against the wall but couldn't hear anything through it.

"You didn't see where Slade pushed?" Shepard asked.

"As I said, Shepard," Thane replied with his hands folded behind his back. "He walked up to the wall, pressed in three locations, the top, the left, then the right, and the wall opened up. There did not appear to be any particular markings where he pushed"

Shepard tapped three places on the wall, the top, the left side, then the right…nothing happened. He stared at the wall, trying to find a place that looked like a button to push.

"We came as soon as we heard," Tali said as she rounded the corner with Mordin, Samara, Grunt, Garrus, Kasumi, Jacob, and Miranda. More footsteps and Legion, Zaeed, and Jack followed.

"Where's the collector?" Shepard asked. Tali looked down the hall where she came, but there was no one else.

"He was right behind me," Tali said in disbelief.

"Not anymore," a voice hissed. Garrus yelled in surprise when he realized Pariah had been standing directly behind him the entire time, breathing in his ear.

"What are you doing?" Miranda asked as Shepard continued to search the wall.

"Thane followed Slade to his wall," Shepard explained. "I think there's a hidden room behind it."

"Hidden room?" Garrus repeated. "Why would there be a hidden room in the Citadel?"

"The same reason there's a master control for it," Shepard said as he brushed his finger over what felt like a crack in the wall. It was a hair-line crack, barely visible, but it was there. He quickly felt over the left side and found a similar crack in the wall.

"You believe the hidden chamber was built by the reapers?" Samara asked.

"Or worse," Jacob said, thinking about the wraith they fought and nearly lost to.

Shepard confidently reached up and stroked the crack above him, then stroked the crack to the left of him, finally stroking the crack to the right of him. Then, it happened.

It sounded like a slab of stone was being pushed across cement. The floor shook as the wall began to slide up into the ceiling, revealing a long corridor completely plunged in darkness. Staring into the darkness…it felt like he was staring through the gateway to a world of nightmares, nightmares that would make a person afraid to fall asleep, nightmares that would make a person terrified of the dark. It felt like there was something in there, a reason to be afraid of the dark.

"Alright, people," Shepard said, turning back around, shrugging off the feelings. "This is Pariah." Pariah gave a small bow.

"He's the new member of our team," Shepard continued.

"What?" Grunt snorted.

"Shepard, you can't be serious!" Tali protested.

"He's a collector!" Miranda added.

"He's also a member of our team," Shepard said. He remembered how he had to defend Legion when the geth first arrived. He had to defend Tali against uncooperative admirals. He had to defend Jacob and Miranda for working with Cerberus. He had to defend himself from the council. Now, he was going to defend Pariah.

Shepard knew the sane person wouldn't believe Pariah. But, there was a small nagging feeling inside him. It once told him that the reapers were real. It told him Legion was not an enemy. Now, it was telling him to trust Pariah.

"There is something out there far more dangerous than the reapers," Shepard announced. "He calls himself The Dark One. He used to be a reaper, but he was banished and imprisoned by them. He's now gathering his forces to overthrow the reapers and wipe out all life in the galaxy once and for all. I don't know how he's communicating with his forces, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that we stop him."

"You sure about this, Shepard?" Kasumi asked. To her it all sounded crazy.

"I need you guys to trust me on this," Shepard said. Tali was looking at Shepard in admiration. It was this courage and confidence that she has always liked. What they were going to do sounded crazy, but so did attacking the collector base. She had no doubt they would succeed all the same. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when she noticed something behind Shepard. She turned on her omni-tool and shined a light on the black shape.

"Shepard?" Tali said uneasily when she saw what it was. Shepard could tell there was no fear in her voice but she seemed disturbed. He turned around and took a step back in surprise. Behind Shepard was an obelisk with a metal disk at the top. Judging from the blue hue and the crimson red light that leaked out of the cracks in the obelisk, it was definitely of reaper design. But it was not that which caught the team's attention.

At the tip of the spire, carved in the metal disk, was a face. Its eyes were wide with nerve-racking fear, its face twisted and stretched, its mouth open as if it was screaming in eternal agony.

"What is that?" Samara gasped.

Legion took a step forwards in interest.

"Object is of the old machines' design," he beeped, examining the object. "The obelisk serves as a warning. Only those who are enslaved to the old machines may enter. We deem an appropriate proverb is: he is goes in will not come out."

"You've seen something like that before?" Shepard asked.

"Yes."

"He's not the only one," Pariah said, folding his arms on his chest. "One of those was placed at the entrance to the collector base."

"But we didn't exactly see anything like that," Zaeed grumbled.

"You didn't exactly take the front door," Pariah replied hoarsely, remembering what he read on how the Shepard attacked the collector base. "It was placed there in case any ship made it past the defenses. Only indoctrinated slaves are allowed to pass. I don't think we should go in there."

"We seriously listening to the prawn?" Jack scoffed. One moment she had been slaughtering them. The next moment, she was working beside one.

Shepard ignored her comment.

"We're going in," he said. "I know this isn't what any of you signed up for, and I don't know what we're going to find in there but I can almost guarantee it won't be pretty. I know we've been through a lot together and we've had our share of things to come, but, from here on out, nothing will be as it seems. I wish I could tell what we're facing, but I can't. Seeing you all in action, I can say with certainty: you're the galaxy's best and brightest. In light of what we have been through, you're also the bravest. I offer you one last chance to turn back. So, if there's anyone who doesn't want to do this, say so now, for once we start, there's no turning back."

Shepard scanned his crew. They were all silent, awaiting orders. Shepard gave a firm nod.

"Legion, take Jack, Mordin, and Zaeed back to the ship," he ordered. "I want you two to guard it. Make sure no one gets on. Legion, I want you to start repairing the _Normandy_. Mordin, I want you in your lab. We're going to be sending data to you as we get it."

"Acknowledged," Legion beeped.

"Grunt, Tali, Samara, Pariah, you guys come with me. We're going to see what's in here."

Grunt chuckled eagerly.

"Garrus, form a defensive perimeter around this door. If something weird comes out…use your imagination."

"What are we going to consider 'weird', Shepard?" Garrus asked. They've seen zombified husks, galaxy destroying reapers, giant collector bugs, indoctrination, rachni… To Garrus, that was as weird as things could get.

"Use your imagination," Shepard answered quickly before yelling, "MOVE OUT!" Shepard, Grunt, Samara, Tali, and Pariah charged into the darkness, letting themselves be swallowed up by the void.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere on the Citadel, Slade quickly made his way through dimly lit halls. He has always been his master's finest servant. After what has just happened, he practically feared for his life. Slade wordlessly entered a room. Eerie blue light seemed to leak from the corners as Slade knelt before a black mass at the center of the room. The mass was a looming shadow, the embodiment of darkness. It was as if the darkness in the room had come to life.<p>

"My lord," Slade said hesitantly as he knelt before his master. Every time he looked into the darkness, it felt like he was staring into a portal to a world of nightmares.

"Speak," a hollow demonic voice said, coming from the black mass. It was a voice devoid of emotion, devoid of compassion, humanity, and remorse. It was a voice that would chill a person to their soul.

"I have successfully retrieved the body but there is bad news," Slade said, preparing himself to face whatever punishment is given. "The one named Shepard has discovered the entrance to the factory on the Citadel." Slade felt his master's will. It felt like an icy cold hand, a dead hand, stroking the back of his mind.

"I suggest we evacuate the factory before our research is discovered," Slade said, trying to sound like he was trying to fix his mistake.

"No," was the answer that came from the void.

"But, my lord," Slade protested in confusion. "Our operations are about to be discovered."

"Do not question my judgment," the voice in the darkness hissed venomously. "Not after your failure and betrayal."

"My betrayal?" Slade repeated. As Slade stared into the darkness, it felt like it was staring back at him.

"Did you think I would not know?" the voice asked menacingly. "How can you still doubt my powers?"

Slade froze. His master knew it was he who sent the wraith to kill the Council. He didn't how his master found out, but that didn't matter now.

"We do not know for certain if the one named Shepard can defeat the reapers," Slade explained calmly. "If the Council is removed then he will one less obstacle in his way. I will attempt to correct my error." Slade felt the hand at the back of his mind seize his brain, telling him to be quiet.

"Do not concern yourself," the thing in the abyss snarled. "I will deal with this nuisance myself."

"I don't understand," Slade said. He had hoped to redeem himself by fixing his mistake. But, his master had other plans.

"When the time is right," the voice from the darkness said. "I assure you, all will be made clear." Slade looked at the void in surprise.

"Trust in me," came the final reply of the abyss

Slade felt the hand in his mind loosen. He looked up at the embodiment of his master.

"As always, my lord," Slade said.

* * *

><p>Shepard has been in the belly of the beast before. He's been inside reaper ships before. He's been inside the collector ship before. He knows what evil feels like. What Shepard was feeling right now… Every step the squad took made them feel like they were taking a step closer to hell. The hallways were barely lit by a dim blue light that cast ominous shadows that loomed over them. Shepard remembered how Garrus felt someone was watching them on the derelict reaper. It didn't just feel like someone was watching them. It felt like someone was behind them, breathing down their back. They dreaded looking behind them. They dreaded looking around the corner. They kept expecting something, some freakish thing from their nightmares, to jump out of the shadows at them.<p>

"I don't like it here," Tali whimpered, her gun aimed at one of the shadows. She almost expected the shadows themselves to come alive and grab her.

"I don't get scared," Grunt snorted stubbornly, his claymore shotgun in hand. But, even as the words left his mouth, his hands were trembling.

"Do you feel that?" Pariah asked, scanning the halls.

"We are being watched," Samara said, knowing what Pariah was feeling. Shepard had that feeling too. He had also felt before when he was on the derelict reaper.

"You think there's still something down here?" Tali asked nervously, imagining the horrors that lurked in the darkness.

As if to answer Tali's question, a single disturbing inhuman moan echoed down the hall. Shepard turned to face his squad to make sure nothing was behind them. The thought of the moan was creeping Shepard out. He scanned the hall behind his squad. There was nothing there…but he could not help but feel there was something there waiting to jump out at them. Shepard gave a satisfied nod but then jumped forward in surprise, whipping around with his gun raised.

"What is it?" Tali asked. Shepard's arms were stiff with fear, refusing to lower the gun.

"I just felt something brush past me," he said. The team raised the guns and stared down the black hallway, looking for whatever it was, expecting it to jump out at any moment.

"There's nothing there," Grunt said impatiently, lowering his shotgun. Shepard didn't say anything. He knew what he felt.

"Come on," Shepard finally said, trying to shrug off the memory of what happened. His entire body was rigid with fear. He felt like running. It took every nerve in his body to fight his urge to run. He wasn't the only one who felt this.

All her years as a justicar, she never felt anything like this. She felt like she was trapped in a room, huddled in a corner in a desperate attempt to hide from…whatever was coming down the hall. She could actually hear the footsteps of whatever thing was coming for her. Then she realized… she could actually hear footsteps. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, like an executioner coming to claim his prey. No one else seemed to notice it, like it didn't exist. She tried to ignore it too as continued to follow Shepard.

Pariah quickly followed the group, not wanting to be left behind. He almost regretted keeping quiet. Shepard was not imagining anything when he said he felt something brush past him. Pariah saw a black figure brush past Shepard.

* * *

><p>The door to the next roomed opened and the team cautiously entered, their guns steadied. It was brighter than the halls, but the ghostly blue light now cast eerie shadows against the walls. The room was filled with equipment. The walls of the room were lined with giant specimen tanks, each with freakish monster in it. Shepard looked at one of the creature inside with disgust. It looked like a husk but it was hideously deformed. Its gray flesh was dried and decayed, its face shriveled up. From its eye sockets were wires, dangling like tendrils. Another set of arms were growing from its shoulders, scythe-like blades growing from the second pair's hands. The creature in the tank beside it was just as deformed, its hands replaced with animal claws. Its jaw dangled open, a mass of tendrils and wires hanging from it.<p>

Every creature in the tanks was horribly deformed but each one was unique in its own disturbing way.

"What are these things?" Shepard spat. Tali wordlessly went up to the computer consol at the side of the room and activated her omni-tool. She tried to keep her eyes of the tanks, trying to focus on her work. The things disturbed her, like some nightmare or fear she had ever since childhood.

It didn't take her long to hack into the computer.

"According to this, those things are called scavengers," she said darkly. She pulled up another file and gasped. It was a list, a list of names.

"I recognize these names," she said. "They are the names of people who have disappeared over the past twenty years." A chill went down Tali's spine as the thought lingered in her mind. Harbinger's downfall was that he completely harvested entire colonies. Entire colonies going missing would catch someone attention. But, kidnapping people from all across the galaxy, no one would suspect anything.

"They've been taken here and experimented on," Pariah said, filling in the blanks. Shepard looked back at the scavenger in the tank. He knew this process too well. He knew his ancestors, the Protheans, were experimented on before they became the collectors. It was hard to imagine that this thing was once a person.

"The scavengers must be the result of the ones that failed," Tali concluded.

"What about this?" Grunt barked. The krogan was staring into a smaller specimen tank, one that held something completely new. Inside was a grey spider-like robot, its four finger-like legs dangling below it. It didn't look like a husk at all. In fact, when Shepard first saw it, he thought about the human-reaper.

"They're called crawlers," Tali explained as she scrolled through the files of data. "They've been designed to multiply, consuming everything to create more of themselves."

"Looks like a reaper," Grunt commented as he observed its design.

"Hold on a sec," Tali said. "I'll try and find out what it is." She continued scanning through the files, trying to find the answer.

Samara stood by the door they came in through. She could still hear it…footsteps. When she first heard it, it had stopped after a while. Now, she could hear it again. Someone was coming down the hall. She raised her gun, ready to greet whoever or whatever it is. The footsteps were growing louder. Whatever it was, it was approaching the corner. Once this thing rounds the corner, she will be able to see what it was.

"Samara?"

Samara gasped in surprise when she realized Shepard had called her name.

"Are you all right?" he asked, noticing how disturbed she was. Samara looked down the hall. The footsteps had stopped and there was nothing there.

"I'm fine," she said, using her decades of experience to keep her voice sounding calm. She could not help but feel that if Shepard had not called her out she would have gotten the chance to see what was making those footsteps. But, she also felt that whatever was making the footsteps was something from a nightmare.

"I found it," Tali said, typing into her omni-tool. "The crawlers are based on reaper technology but, according to this, they're not reapers." Shepard gave a sigh of relief. It made sense. There's nothing in this galaxy that could create something that looked like the crawler. "According to this, they will consume all resources in the environment and use them to multiply. They can grow into an unstoppable swarm if an early infestation isn't stopped."

"It's a bug," Grunt said flatly, not impressed.

"Send the data to Mordin," Shepard said. "We gotta move on." Everyone nodded in agreement. None of them wanted to stay there. The team all turned and left through a different door on the other side of the room, none of them turning back…none of them lingering behind. But, if someone did linger behind, they would've heard it…footsteps. Whatever was making the footsteps had finally reached the room.

* * *

><p>"You hear that?" Shepard asked. The team paused and listened. They could hear it. Rhythmic marching was echoing down the hall. They knew it wasn't a good sign but it was the friendliest thing they've experienced since entering this place.<p>

The team lowered their guns as they reached a balcony. They cautiously approached the edge of the balcony. They could hear the heavy marching coming from below, like an army amassing for an invasion. As they looked over the massive chamber that the balcony hung over, they realized that was exactly what was happening. Hundreds of wraiths escorted by thousands of indoctrinated slaves were marching into the chamber with thousands more pouring in: an endless army. The indoctrinated slaves wore black hooded robes, like priests of some satanic cult. At the front of the chamber was the black hologram of a reaper, just like the hologram of Sovereign, just like the hologram of Harbinger. The reaper's blood red eyes gazed upon his army.

"_Rise my children. Know that I am the Dark One, your eternal master, the architect of things to come. Know that you are the tools of my conquest, that you exist to serve me." _

The reaper's voice echoed across the room like it was the incantation to some satanic ritual, his message burned into Shepard's mind.

"Hail the Dark One!" the soldiers chanted, bowing before their master. "Hail the Dark One!"

The team looked into the chamber with dread, staring upon a massive army.

"This is worse than I thought," Pariah said. He always knew the Dark One was gathering his forces. Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it…gazing upon the endless waves of soldiers…it was something completely different. "You understand now? You see why the reapers must not be destroyed? There is no hope for the galaxy. The lesser of the two must be chosen and the reapers are the ones that will let life be reborn into the galaxy."

"You're wrong," Shepard said, refusing to just let everything die, regardless of whether it was to the reapers or the Dark One. "There's always hope, as long as there's someone willing to stand up and fight them."

"There must be thousands of them," Tali breathed as she watched the army bow before the reaper.

The silence was pierced, ripped apart, by a thunderous bang.

"Samara!" Shepard yelled when he saw the asari gasp in pain before falling to the ground. Slade had emerged from the shadows, his hand cannon drawn.

Grunt roared furiously, firing his shotgun. Slade stumbled backwards as the shotgun blast hit his shield like a missile. Grunt took a step forward, eager to fight. But Slade was not the one he was going to be fighting. The room filled with chittering as dozens of crawlers emerged from the corners of the room. Black masses of bugs poured out, crawling over each other, eager to rip their prey apart. The crawlers were crawling across the floor, the walls, the ceiling, they were everywhere.

"Let 'em have it!" Shepard yelled. The room was flooded with the sound of gunfire. It felt like the room was going to rattle apart. Crawlers exploded, their pieces raining to the floor. No matter how many they killed, more kept pouring in…and endless horde.

"BEHIND US!" Tali yelled as she whipped around, blasting apart the crawlers crawling over the side of the balcony. The doors opened and scavengers came charging in, roaring like crazed demons. They were the zombies the husks were. They were hellishly mutated monsters, creatures from a person's darkest nightmares. Hideously deformed demons poured into the room. Slade didn't even need to do anything. They were surrounded, trapped by a horde of nightmarish monsters.

"Fall back!" Shepard ordered over the deafening gunfire. "Tali, get Samara out of here!"

"But!" Tali protested, not wanting to leave Shepard behind to these things.

"JUST DO IT!"

Tali stared at Shepard, still refusing to leave him. Finally, without a word, she slung Samara over her shoulder.

"Grunt, clear a path for us!" Shepard yelled. Grunt chuckled wickedly. He was most happy to oblige.

"I AM KROGAN!" he roared, charging forwards. Grunt plowed through the scavengers, crushing any crawlers under his feet, clearing a way to the door. The team didn't hesitate. They ran for the door. The monsters closed in like walls from both sides. Every second they took was a second the monsters used to converge on them.

"Let's move," Shepard said as his team ran through the door. He was just about to follow when he saw the door begin to close. If that door shut he would be trapped in with the monsters. He could already imagine it: his back pressed against the wall as the jibbering beasts came in and ripped him apart, limb from limb, flesh from bone. Worse, he might even become one of them, an abominable mutation of the reapers.

Shepard yelled as he jumped through the door at the last moment, felling both sides of it slide against his stomach and shoulders. He turned around, expecting the door to close right in front of the demons, but it didn't. The crawlers had jumped through the door, holding it open.

Pariah saw what was happening and fired his particle beam. The beam of energy melted through the crawlers holding the door open. More crawlers quickly filled the space but they were blasted away too. Finally, the door closed, sealing the nightmare behind it.

"Thanks," Shepard said as Pariah helped him to his feet. As soon as he said that, they heard gun fire coming from down the hall. Crawlers and scavengers had already emerged down the hall, charging at Grunt and Tali.

"The ceiling!" Pariah shouted. The crawlers fell from the ceiling, crawling down from webs like giant spiders. Grunt and Tali both fled to Shepard and Pariah, chased by a mass of hellish beasts. Backs together, they fall fired in every direction as the creatures poured through every entrance.

"Come on!" Shepard yelled. There was still one door the monsters didn't come in through. It was the way out. They slowly made their way for the door as more and more nightmares closed in on them.

Shepard mowed down another scavenger, riddling it with bullets. He turned to shoot another one, but was stunned when he saw one standing right in front of him. It was a turian with its eyes and lips sewn together but its chest and stomach cut open. The creature opened its stomach and chest, revealing rows of massive teeth. Shepard aimed and fired, blasting the creature with bullets. He turned to shoot more when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned and saw that a crawler had managed to drop right onto him.

Shepard yelled in shock and slapped the crawler off of him. He turned back to fight but that moment of distraction had let a scavenger grab him from behind. Shepard elbowed the scavenger off but more kept coming.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled. Shepard turned around and saw scavengers tearing through the walls. They poured in, cutting Shepard off from the rest of his squad. He was trapped.

"GO!"Shepard yelled desperately. He knew it right then. He knew it as clearly as he did when he floated off into space as he watched the _SR1 Normandy_ be destroyed. He was going to die.

Shepard yelled furiously as he rained bullets in every direction. The scavengers poured onto him. Shepard shook them off, shooting each one in the face. Then he realized that the crawlers were beginning to climb onto him. He shot them off but that gave the scavengers the time they needed to grab Shepard. The commander grabbed his pistol, firing his rifle in one hand and his sidearm in the other. He crushed the crawlers under his heel but more crawled onto him. Shepard could feel them chewing through his armor, crawling all over his body. The scavengers grabbed him, digging their fangs and claws into his flesh. He yelled angrily as he desperately began to punch the creatures around him, trying everything he could to delay his inevitable death. No matter which way he turned, he saw more demonic faces closing in on him. Everything became a blur as he killed creature after creature but more kept coming. Shepard was thrown to the ground as the creatures piled onto him. He was buried under a mound of demonic creatures, their bodies blocking out the light, plunging him into darkness. The world began to fade as the monsters piled onto him. Even as everything faded into black, he could swear he felt someone watching the entire thing happen. Just as the world melted away, he swore he heard something, a voice whispering in his ear…someone breathing down his neck.

"_Feel the cold embrace of death."_

* * *

><p><em><span>Now we get to see more of the Dark One. The Dark One's forces went through a lot of remaking. Originally they were just monsters but I felt that the Dark One must have forces like the reapers. Seeing from the ME3 previews that the reaper forces were made of husks I decided to make the Dark One's forces like husks. The scavengers are just supposed to be mutations of husks. If the husks were like the standard infected from L4D, then the scavengers would be like the necromorphs from Dead Space. I also had a little trouble creating the Dark One. I wanted to make the Dark One someone who doesn't need that 'we will kill you' rant the other reapers have. I also notice that original reapers that other fanfic writiers make tend to sound like Harbinger. I wanted to move away from that (not sure if I succeeded though). In fact, to be honest, I said this guy's name was taken away from him and he was renamed 'The Dark One' because I couldn't think of a cool reaper name that didn't sound cheesy. So, what do you guys think so far? Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. You'll be seeing more of the Dark One later. <span>_


	5. Darkness

Shepard had forgotten what it's like to be dead. It is supposed to only happen once. But, this was not Shepard's time. He could feel the cold metal table that he was lying on. He slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the dim light. He stared up at the ceiling, still dazed and confused. He painfully sat up, his armor feeling heavier than usual.

From the dim light, he could just barely see the looming figures around him. Scavengers and crawlers were mulling around, ignoring him. He carefully got to his feet, expecting the creatures to lunge at him at any time…but they didn't. The monsters were just wandering about, like animals.

Shepard looked up when he heard the door open. His first thought was to hide. But if he did hide, where would he. He was completely surrounded by monsters.

He just stood there as the door opened and Slade walked in.

"Come with me," Slade ordered in a flat monotone voice. Shepard watched as Slade turned and left the room. The commander looked at the monsters, then back at the door where Slade came through. He must be alive for some reason, might as well find out why.

Shepard followed Slade out, not sure what to expect. Slade did not say a word as he led Shepard down the halls of the base. As they passed several rooms, Shepard could see a statue of a reaper in the center. Indoctrinated slaves bowed before the statue like it was a holy relic as a head priest preached at the front. The priest wore both robes and armor as he preached with the slaves.

The Dark One wasn't just indoctrinating followers…he was being worshipped by them. Shepard thought of how the geth that served Saren worshipped the reapers. This must have been something similar.

Slade led Shepard through a door and into a completely different room. It didn't look like the labs he had gone through earlier. This room was rather well lit and rather empty. Several indoctrinated slaves stood guard with a handful of wraiths. At the back of the room was a tall throne. At the front of the room were several pillars. But, it was not the guards or the pillars that caught Shepard's attention; it was what was behind the pillars.

"What the…?" he breathed. There was nothing behind the pillars…absolutely nothing. There were no walls, no floor, no ceiling, nothing but an eternal abyss of darkness, an infinite void.

"You are the one they call Shepard," came a demonic voice from the void.

"You're him, aren't you?" Shepard asked in awe and horror. "You're the Dark One."

"You know of me," the voice said. Shepard couldn't tell if that was a question or a statement.

"I know of you," Shepard replied. "And I'm not going to let you win. There's an entire galaxy out there that will stand and fight you."

"A galaxy unified and plagued by war and chaos," were the words echoing from the darkness. This sent a chill down Shepard's spine. The Dark One was right. That galaxy was unified. The only way they could even hope to fight the reapers was if they stood together. Shepard didn't say anything back; there was nothing he could say back.

"I've learned many things from you Shepard," the thing in the abyss said. "I know of your plans for the ones you know as reapers. You will attempt to unite the galaxy against them. Even if you do defeat the ones I once called my brothers, you shall fall before my collective might.

"Even if we will fall, that won't stop us from fighting," Shepard said defiantly. "If we do fight, and we WILL fight, we will meet you on every front, on every world, on every field."

"Then you shall be defeated on every front, on every world, on every field," the abyss echoed, undeterred by Shepard's insolence. "This is not my only compound. I have many more, just like this one, on many other worlds. Even as we speak, my forces are increasing exponentially."

"What do you want?" Shepard demanded to know. What made this reaper different from the others?

The Dark One didn't say anything…not at first. The infinite abyss was silent.

"Come," the voice in the darkness beckoned. Shepard looked around uneasily. Slade and the others simply stood as still as stone.

Shepard took a step forward, staring into the abyss. The voice spoke, his words echoing through Shepard's mind. Shepard felt the Dark One. It felt like a claw burrowing into his brain. It felt like a snake chewing through his chest, hungry for his heart. The world began to blur. It felt like he was falling into the void.

"_Embrace eternity. Embrace the darkness. Embrace oblivion. Forever sleep." _

Shepard's eyes flew open but it didn't matter. He was seeing everything the Dark One wanted him to see. He saw…everything.

He saw the Dark One traveling with the rest of the reaper fleet. Millions of reaper ships converged on the galaxy. He watched as the reapers purged the galaxy of life, leaving fields of bodies in their wake. He watched as the Dark One experimented on not only on the people in the galaxy but on other reapers as well, both living and dead. He watched as the Dark One committed atrocious crimes, heinous things that chilled Shepard to his soul.

The Dark One created new weapons and technology for the rest of the fleet, making the reapers stronger with every Cycle of Extinction. He watched as the reaper fleet granted him amnesty again and again. He watched as the reapers, no longer willing to grant him amnesty, finally retaliated against the Dark One. But, it was too late. The Dark One had grown too strong to control. Unable to kill him, the reapers imprisoned the Dark One's ship and body at the center of a planet that they dragged into dark space.

But, the Dark One knew this might happen. He had been preparing for this. Slowly, the Dark One began gathering his forces. It started with the small ones, the crawlers, small workers that would overrun ships, indoctrinating the crew and bringing it under his command. It started out as only a handful of pirated and commandeered ships, but his numbers began to grow. He began creating factories to generate troops to serve him and starports on planets that began building reaper ships to add onto his fleet. Searching for more power, he began experimenting on his prisoners, hoping to find a way to make his soldiers even stronger. The experiments that failed were turned into scavengers and soon he had hordes of scavengers to use against his enemies. He was always growing more powerful. While the reapers hibernated in dark space, his forces were multiplying. While the reapers purged the galaxy of life, his forces were multiplying. His fleet had started out as less than a dozen, then it turned into hundreds, then thousands, into millions…billions… While the reaper fleet waited in dark space, he too was waiting…and watching…

Shepard took a gasp of air. He was on his knees, staring at the ground. He knew what Pariah meant. If the reapers are destroyed, the Dark One can return in full force.

"What do you want?" Shepard gasped in exhaustion.

"I have what I want. From you, I have acquired what I need," the Dark One said ominously as Shepard got back up to his feet. "In your DNA I have found what Harbinger had sought."

"My DNA?" Shepard repeated.

"Behold, Shepard, my greatest creation," the Dark One's voice echoed. Shepard froze when he heard that. He was so preoccupied talking that he didn't even notice that something was behind him. He could hear it, whatever it was, quietly growling, breathing down his neck.

Shepard turned around and his eyes widened in horror. Standing before him, glaring out of its five glowing eyes from atop a short stiff neck that connected directly to its bony deformed body, sharpening its knife-like claws, was the Dark One's creation: a horrifying monster.

"The hybrid: the perfect amalgamation of humans and reapers," the voice in the darkness echoed. "The perfect soldier to do my bidding."

This creature, this thing, was like a cyborg, the amalgamation of both human and reaper, a reaper skeleton within a mutated human's body. Shepard could see the wires running where its veins should be and machine replacing bone, he saw the flesh on its hands had been peeled back, revealing a mechanical claw that was glistening in the light, and he could practically feel the emptiness in the creature where a soul should have been.

"You could've done the same with other humans," Shepard said as the hybrid growled at him. "Why do you need my DNA?" Shepard stared at the creature, waiting for his answer. But, it didn't come; it didn't need to come. A dark thought crawled into his brain.

"No," he breathed as he realized the truth. "The human side of the hybrid…is me. It's a clone of me. You cloned me, mutated my clone, like the reapers did the Protheans, then turned it into this hybrid." Shepard remembered how the reapers turned the Protheans into collectors. The Dark One had done something similar to Shepard's clone. He didn't just want any human to be part of his hybrid, he didn't want the traits of just any human; he wanted Shepard.

Shepard stared at the hybrid in shock and horror as he realized the truth. That thing was him. It was a mutated version of him. It was as if he was looking into a mirror and saw a perverse reflection of himself.

Even with the fear coursing through his blood, Shepard could not help but wonder: what creature made the reaper half of the hybrid. The reapers were created from organic material taken from harvested victims. What creature was used this time? But, it wouldn't matter. This thing was just as dangerous either way.

Shepard flinched in pain. He could feel the Dark One's will in the back of his mind, voices whispering.

"What now, then?" Shepard asked as he gazed at the hybrid. "You gonna kill me?"

"You are the key to defeating the ones you call reapers," the Dark One hissed. "I will spare your life for the moment, only so that you may witness the fruits of your labors. First, I will watch as you unite the galaxy and defeat my brethren. Then, thanks to your actions, I will destroy every living thing in this galaxy…including you."

"You aren't going to indoctrinate me?" Shepard asked, confused why this reaper would not try to turn him into a slave to the infinite void.

"No," the darkness hissed. Shepard stared into the abyss. Everything that has happened was all part of the Dark One's plan. Everything it did had a reason. There must have been a reason the Dark One didn't want to indoctrinate him.

"Once my brethren cease to exist, I shall open the gates of the infinite void," the Dark One said. "My children shall usher in a new age to this galaxy."

"I'm not going to let it happen," Shepard growled, his fist clenching. "I now know what you're planning, and I'm going to make sure it won't happen."

"How will you stop me?" the Dark One asked coldly.

"The galaxy will unite against the reapers," Shepard said. "They'll unite against you. And, together, we will stop you."

"Like my brethren, Shepard, you can do nothing but utter empty threats, for I know exactly who you are," the Dark One hissed venomously.

"If you know who I am, then you know what I've done," Shepard said. "And, that means you know what I can do."

"I what you are, Shepard," the Dark One said, his voice darkening with every word. "But, you know not what I am, what I have become."

Shepard never got to say another word. The silence was shattered by gunfire. Shepard whipped around and watched, stunned, as his squad barged through the door, weapons ablaze. Grunt, Miranda, and Jacob led the squad, blasting their way through the troops. Samara and Tali were right behind them. Garrus and Pariah were at the back, sniping their enemies from afar. The indoctrinated slaves took cover and returned fire. The room was plunged into chaos as the two sides rained bullets at each other, hailing the other side with fire. The thunder of the gunfire was like an endless storm, practically deafened them. Bullets whizzed in every direction. While the indoctrinated slaves yelled commands at each other, the wraiths wordlessly aimed and began firing.

The hybrid took a moment before walking up to one of the indoctrinated slaves. With a single motion, it slit the slave's throat with its claws and took the avenger rifle from his dead hands. The hybrid gave another growl as it joined the battle, opening fire on the squad.

Shepard slammed his elbow into the face of the slave closes to him and yanked the gun from his hands.

"This isn't over!" Shepard yelled into the abyss.

"I would be disappointed if it was," the Dark One's voice echoed from the darkness. As the venomous words left the void, Slade gave his master a nod and left the room without a word.

Shepard turned and began shooting at the indoctrinated slaves. While the battle raged, Shepard realized that the wraiths were not falling. The wraiths shrugged off every bullet shot at them.

"Pariah!" Shepard yelled. "Focus fire on the wraiths!"

The collector gave a nod and unleashed his particle beam against the armored creatures. The beam scorched their armor, cooking the creature inside of it.

Shepard gunned down another soldier when he realized that the hybrid was still standing, still shooting. Shepard took aim at the creature and fired. The hybrid stared at Shepard as he riddled it with bullets. Each bullet tore through the creature, tearing through its flesh with sickening thuds. The roar of the fight seemed to fade away as Shepard looked up from his rifle; he saw the bullets wounds where the hybrid had been shot. The creature looked at his wounds curiously. There was a stomach-churning squelch as the wounds vanished. It had regenerated.

"Fall back!" Shepard ordered when he saw the door on the other side open. Hundreds of scavengers and crawlers began pouring through the door. Shepard and his team turned and ran, not looking back, not daring to look at that army of nightmares.

Shepard didn't know how far he got before, suddenly, the floor beneath his feet vanished and he plunged down through some sort of ventilation shaft. He bounced off the sides of the shaft, grunting in pain each time. Finally, he felt himself hit the floor.

Shepard groaned in annoyance as he tried to pick himself back up. His he was beaten and bruised and his muscles ere sore. Shepard looked up, trying to find out where he was now. As his eyes scanned the long hallway he was now in his blood froze. The ceiling directly above him had been torn out, revealing another hallway above him, and, right in that hall above him, there it was: a massive husk-like creature, deformed, molten, rotted. It was something straight out of a nightmare, but it was real. Its two impossibly long arms and its single leg were legs body. The thing was so massive that it filled up the entire hall it was in. It looked as if it had been created from countless scavengers and husks, their bodies fused together to create this demon.

Setting his eyes upon this thing, Shepard forgot about his bruises. All the pain in his body suddenly vanished. The annoyance in his mind disappeared just as quickly and was replaced by something else: panic.

Shepard darted forward, running as fast as he could force his legs to carry him. There was a deafening crash as the ceiling suddenly began to cave in as the creature tried to grab him. Lights flickered madly as steel beams gave way and crashed into the hall. Shepard threw himself forward as a massive piece of the ceiling came down where he was just a few moments ago. He desperately crawled forward knowing that that thing was right behind him, knowing that that thing could grab him at any time.

Shepard was just about to crawl around another steel beam when a hideously deformed face, covered in rotted flesh and mold, suddenly appeared right in front of him. Shepard yelled in shock as he jumped back, mindlessly shooting at the thing. The flashes from his assault rifle lit up the creatures face as it howled in pain.

Shepard turned and began to crawl the other direction, going through the entanglement of steel beams. He could hear the creature roaring furiously as it tried to find a way to get him. There was a bang as a massive claw suddenly plunged through the wreckage, grabbing Shepard's foot and dragging him backwards. Shepard grabbed the wreckage desperately, holding on for his life, but he was no match for the creature's strength. His hands couldn't hold on and Shepard found himself being dragged toward the monster's jaws.

Shepard turned onto his back and began firing at the thing, filling its mouth with bullets. In his panic, Shepard noticed that the ceiling right above the monster was about to cave in. He aimed and fired at the ceiling, the bullets shattering and ricocheting against the metal. Finally, the metal gave way and fell on the creature's head. The monster roared in pain as it then slung Shepard straight through the wreckage.

Shepard felt himself burst through the mass of metal and tumble across the hall like a chew toy mangled by a savage dog. Shepard quickly got back to his feet and looked behind him and his eyes widened in horror. The creature shoved the mass of twisted metal aside like it was paper and charged toward him. Lights shattered as the creature's body scraped against the walls. The thing was coming with a wall of darkness. Shepard stared into the darkness, knowing that if it reached him it will be the last thing he sees.

Shepard took off the hall, not looking back. That thing was faster than him. He kept expecting himself to be lifted off the ground at any moment as the creature ripped apart with ease. This fear made Shepard run even faster.

Shepard reached the door in front of him and tore it open.

Shepard had expected the door to lead to safety, to salvation. He did not expect this.

Shepard grabbed the door frame as his entire body was lifted up into the air and pulled backwards, as if a thousand hands were pulling him. The door led to the vacuum of space. The room's windows were destroyed and everything was being sucked out.

Shepard felt his hand slip and he flew toward the empty expanse behind him. He grabbed the railings right in front of the windows. He could see a ventilation shaft in the floor but he couldn't reach it.

Shepard remembered Thane's story about the duct rats, how they sometimes died after being pulled into space. Shepard had just found one of those passageways.

Shepard tried to pull himself forward but he could already feel his arms giving out. The wind rushed past his ear in a mind-rattling roar. But, that wasn't the only roar he heard. Shepard looked up and saw the creature smash through the door frame. Realizing where the door led, the monster tried to turn back but it was too late. It dug its claws into the floor as it skidded forwards towards the empty expanse…towards Shepard.

Shepard gripped the railing even tighter was the creature was finally lifted off the ground and flew out the window. Shepard felt the monster's claws as it made one final attempt to grab him. The creature went spiraling out into space.

Shepard could feel his hands slipping, his fingers losing their grip on the rail.

"Shepard!" a voice yelled. Shepard looked down and saw Pariah hiding in the vent in the floor. There was still a way out. With renewed hope, Shepard pulled himself forward, reaching for the vent. Pariah stuck out his hand, just barely out of reach with Shepard's. He had to pull himself further, but there was no way. Shepard looked back into the abyss of space then looked at Pariah. There was a way but if he screws this up he's not getting another chance.

With a furious yell, Shepard, with every ounce of strength and will in his body, pushed himself off the railing and threw himself forward. He flew forward a couple of feet before the vacuum finally began pulling him back. Shepard watched as his hands just barely missed Pariah's.

Pariah, unwilling to let Shepard die because of him, practically jumped out of the vent and grabbed Shepard's hand. The collector pulled back and let himself fall into the vent, dragging Shepard with him.

* * *

><p>Joker was in the cockpit, snoring loudly. Legion was fixing the ship. Mordin was working in his lab. And, Jack and Zaeed were standing guard. There was nothing to do. His head was slung back over his chair, snuggled comfortably in his leather seat. Too bad it didn't last.<p>

"Jeff," EDI beeped, her blue sphere appearing on the panel. Joker was sleeping too well to hear her, his snore echoing the cockpit like an annoying ringing.

"Jeff," EDI said again. Still, Joker kept snoozing away.

"JOKER!" EDI's voice blared through his headset. Joker jolted awake by the sudden blast of noise.

"What?" Joker asked in annoyance, sitting up straight. He clasped his hands over his ears as he tried to recover from the ringing. But, EDI didn't have time to wait for Joker to recover.

"I have detected something that I believe you will want to see," EDI said. Joker leaned forward groggily.

"What is it?" he asked. But, before EDI could answer, he saw it.

"No way," Joker breathed. Slowly cruising through the Citadel was a small ship, a frigate with _SV1_ pained on its wings and _Normandy_ painted on the side. It was the original _Normandy_…at least it used to be. Reaper technology clung to the engines and wings and ran down the length of the ship, stuck to it like tumors or like an infection.

"What'd they do to her?" Joker gasped when he saw what his once beautiful ship had transformed into. He felt repulsed, as if his heart was going to jump out of his throat at any moment.

"The ship appears to have been upgraded," EDI said. "The technology attached to the _Normandy_ is similar to that of the reapers."

"Similar?" Joker repeated. The stuff clinging onto the _SV1 Normandy_ like fungus certainly looked like reaper technology. It looked like someone had chopped off a piece of a reaper and put it on the _Normandy_.

"According to my scans, the ship's attachments bear technological resemblance to Sovereign and the derelict reaper. However, the technology is running at 300% efficiency."

"Why didn't we see it before?" Joker asked.

"The ship had activated its stealth systems," EDI explained. "Our sensors were unable to pick it up until recently because it has begun venting its heat from the heat sink."

Joker knew the design of the original _Normandy_ well. The ship had a heat sink that would hide the ship's heat signature, rendering her virtually undetectable. Eventually the ship has to vent its heat, giving her position away. He knew if the _Normandy_ was simply drifting, she could have her stealth systems engaged for several days before having to vent her heat.

"The quantity of heat being vented from the ship suggests that it has been idle near the Citadel for several months," EDI said. Joker felt his stomach sink. That ship had been there for months and nobody noticed it. That means the reapers have been here for months, watching them.

"The ship appears to be leaving," EDI beeped as the ship took off. It didn't get far before it had to stop in its tracks, stopping to a dead halt in mere moments. A pair of turian cruisers was in its way. The Citadel Fleet had also detected the _SV1 Normandy_ and weren't going to let it leave. But, they didn't really have a choice.

Right before Joker's eyes, a beam of molten metal shot from the bottom of the _SV1_, cutting clean through one of the cruisers like a buzz saw through wood. The two halves drifted away from each other, for some reason, peacefully. The shot was worse than it looked; it had completely rattled the ship. Soon, the ship completely fell apart, the joints that held the ship together giving way, falling away piece by piece, turning into a small field of debris.

The other ship soon suffered the same fate. It was cut in half just as easily before falling apart into a field of debris.

Now unchallenged, the _SV1 Normandy_ flew off, disappearing into FTL.

* * *

><p>After being exposed to the cold of space the stable atmosphere felt warm, a blanket of warmth across Shepard's body. He coughed as he let the new air flow into his lungs.<p>

"Thanks," he said to Pariah, who was slowly picking himself up. "I owe you one." Shepard didn't know how Pariah was able to somehow find him in this maze of halls, but he didn't care. He was alive, saved by the very person who once wanted him dead.

"More than one," the collector grumbled, rubbing his bruised ribs. "You're crew's waiting outside the Dark One's hidden entrance. They'll be happy to see you alive."

"We better get going to see them," Shepard said, getting to his feet.

"You better get going," Pariah corrected. Shepard gave Pariah a confused look.

"You're not coming?" he asked. Pariah didn't say anything at first. Ever since he first stepped into the Dark One's secret lair on the Citadel, he has been questioning himself. Now, it was time for him to make up his mind.

"No," Pariah said. "If there's any chance of stopping the Dark One, I need to find it. You have the reaper fleet to worry about. I came to warn of you of the Dark One. Now, you know. My task here is complete."

"But-" Shepard protested.

"You're right, Shepard," Pariah said solemnly. "There is always hope, so long as there is someone like you that will stand up and challenge them." Pariah stood up and turned away, facing down the dark hall in front of him.

"It doesn't have to be this way," Shepard said. "We might still be able to turn you back into a prothean." Pariah froze when he heard this. "We know what you used to be. We still might be able to cure you." Pariah stared at the ground. For the longest time, he always accepted that he would never be able to see what his ancestors truly looked like or become one of them.

"No, you can't," Pariah said emotionlessly. "You've shown me that there still is hope for this galaxy. Anyone can stop the reapers and the Dark One, you can." Shepard looked at Pariah. In their short time together, he had come to view the collector like a brother. Shepard wished he could help Pariah like he did the rest of his squad. He always hoped that Mordin could find a way to reverse what the reapers did to the collector.

"You don't have to fight him alone," Shepard said, hoping to find a way to make Pariah stay with the team. "Once the reapers are gone we can find a way to stop the Dark One, together."

"He's going to be gathering his forces while you fight the reapers," Pariah answered. "I'll buy you time until you can finish of the reapers. Then, the Dark One will come."

"You think we can beat him?" Shepard asked. He has already seen what the Dark One can do and he never felt this much dread since he first met Sovereign.

Pariah gave Shepard an honest answer, what he really believed no matter how much he wished otherwise. The words came off his tongue in a single quick answer.

"No." Pariah's omni-tool lit up. "Good luck, Shepard." Without another word, Pariah cloaked himself and vanished, disappearing from sight.

Shepard nodded at Pariah's last statement. 'Good luck' echoed through his mind.

"We're going to need as much as we can get," Shepard said to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Another chapter. Once again, please review and tell me what you think. There will be a final chapter, an epilogue, to finish everything off. I got the idea to this story when I was wondering what Bioware would do if they decided to do a ME4. Since the entire ME franchise revolved around reapers, ME4 would have to revolve around reapers too. I tried to make the Dark One feel like a perversion of what the reapers were. The part about the hybrid was because I needed a reason they kept Shepard in the base. They kept Shepard alive because the Dark One wants him to destroy the reapers, but I needed a reason they are chatting about it. So, please review, please let me know what you think, and please, Bioware, <strong>_**RELEASE ME3 ALREADY**__**‼**__**!**_


	6. Whispers of Doom

As the _SR1_ slowly cruised through space, Slade promptly made his way to the CIC. The entire ship had been remade, bigger and better than ever. He walked up to the galaxy map and stared at the glowing hologram. It won't be long now. Once the reapers were gone their time will finally come.

"The data on the construction of the hybrid has been sent to our other facilities," Slade said to, seemingly, no one. But, he knew that, regardless of what it looked like, he was talking to someone. "The cloning process is already underway. They have already begun creating more. Once this galaxy defeats the reapers they shall be engaged in a war unlike any they have ever seen before. The prisoners are being processed. Half shall be indoctrinated and the other half shall be used to create more hybrids."

As the words left his mouth, Slade could feel his master's glee. They've been waiting a long time for this moment.

"My brothers could not stop me from this," the Dark One hissed, his voice coming from the shadows. After so long, the Cycle of Extinction will finally end, and the hounds of the abyss will usher in a new age. "This galaxy will be dark, forever."

* * *

><p>Shepard eagerly stepped into the Council chambers. After going through all that, he finally had evidence of the reapers. There was an entire hidden area of the Citadel, filled with research equipment and data. The Council had already sent C-Sec to investigate.<p>

The four councilors stood at their posts, standing tall and proud. Shepard was just glad Anderson was here on this one.

"Commander Shepard," the asari started out. "We're here to finish our trial involving your recent terror attack on the Bahak system."

Shepard's felt his fist clench when he heard that asari councilor say that. So, even she now believed that he did it to kill batarians.

"Do you have anything else you wish to say, Shepard?" the salarian councilor asked slowly.

"I couldn't have destroyed that relay without the asteroid," Shepard argued, trying to keep his cool. "How am I supposed to use that?"

"I bet your Cerberus friends helped you with that," the turian councilor said smugly. "There are no reapers. It's a pity to see humanity's first spectre turn into a terrorist."

"What about that hidden chamber I told you to find?" Shepard asked angrily. He had hoped the Council would see the truth after they find the chamber.

"We've found the chamber as you said," the salarian councilor replied. "But, we did not find anything that would prove the reapers' existence." Shepard felt his heart plummet. There were corridors of specimen tanks in that chamber. There were computer terminals, files of data.

"I'm sorry, Shepard," Anderson said, finally speaking up. "If there was something there, then it's all been cleaned out. There's nothing there, not anymore."

Shepard's blood ran cold. The Dark One somehow cleaned everything out, the specimen tanks, the lab, the computers, everything.

"You found that secret chamber by accident and you decided to create this elaborate story, just to perpetuate your tale about the reapers," the turian councilor spat. "There's no such thing."

"What about the throne room?" Shepard asked, remembering what he saw behind the pillars. The councilors exchanged glances.

"We found a chamber that vaguely matches your description but there was no throne, and there was nothing behind the pillars but a wall," the salarian councilor explained.

"There is no reason to believe that the chamber was not created by prothean criminals who used it has a hideout during their time." the asari councilor said. "We cannot find any evidence supporting your story."

"That's because there is no evidence to find," the turian councilor said hurriedly. "I don't see why Shepard even bothers to continue this little tale. And, I don't see why we are still discussing this. Shepard should be arrested and sentenced immediately."

"What happens to Shepard is not up to you," Anderson said calmly. The turian councilor turned to him, opening his mouth in surprise and protest.

"This is true," the asari councilor agreed. "Shepard's spectre status will be removed, but his fate, as an alliance soldier, is up to the alliance." The turian councilor looked at the ground in disappointment. He was really hoping to prosecute Shepard now.

"Shepard, you are to return to the _Normandy_," the salarian councilor instructed. "From there, you will be escorted back to earth for trial. You are not to make any detours or separate trips. Is that understood?" Shepard gave a single firm nod.

* * *

><p>Back on the <em>Normandy<em>, Shepard stared at the galaxy map. Everyone was shocked that the Council still refused to listen. Worse, Shepard might be charged as a terrorist. If Shepard was gone, the _Normandy_ was nothing. It was given to him, first to stop Saren, then to stop the collectors. Without him, it seemed like it had no purpose. But, the ship was going to be given to the Alliance. After that…who knows what will happen to it.

Shepard had already spent time with Tali, saying their goodbyes. He knew that if the trial does not go well they might never see each other again.

Joker limped up beside Shepard.

"Guess it doesn't get easier from here," Joker said as he watched Shepard's solemn face.

"Shouldn't you be up at the cockpit?" Shepard asked emotionlessly. He never expected that his career would end up making him the worst war criminal in Citadel history.

"We're still waiting for our escorts," Joker said. "Guess they don't want us to run off like we did to Ilos," Joker added with a smile. He had hoped that the mention of old times would cheer the commander up, but it didn't. Joker quickly cleared his throat.

"They've scanned the original _Normandy_ crash site," Joker said. "It's gone. Guess that Dark One took her."

"You know, Joker," Shepard finally said. "I had dedicated so much to stopping to the reapers. I went to lengths no one else would. I did what was impossible, all to stop the reapers. Now I find out, everything I've done has brought the galaxy one step closer to destruction at the hands of the Dark One."

Shepard has always imagined the day the reapers would be gone. He has always dreamed what it would be like when the greatest threat to the galaxy was defeated. When he thought about this, he used to feel hope, that maybe they could survive what hundreds of cycles could not. Now, he feels dread. The reapers are coming, and they will inevitably arrive. If he destroys the reapers, he will be playing into the Dark One's hands. If he was to defeat the reapers, the galaxy's greatest enemy will be replaced by another even more dangerous one. He could hardly imagine the storm that will come once the reapers fall.

EDI's shimmering blue avatar suddenly appeared on the computer beside them.

"Shepard," she said. "Using the data I have mined from the collector base, I have discovered a unique communications channel outside of our standard communications frequency."

"How does that help us?" Shepard asked.

"In have detected a message being played via this channel," EDI explained. "If my scans are accurate, this message is being played to dark space."

That sent a chill down Shepard's spine. Someone, or something, was talking to the reapers. Someone knew of their existence and had something to say to them.

"Put is on speakers," Shepard ordered. From the ship's speakers came a cold demonic voice that brought horrifying memories back to Shepard. He knew who was speaking. And, he knew what the guy had to say. He has heard messages like this before, first from Sovereign then from Harbinger. The only difference was this message wasn't to him about the end of this galaxy; it was to the reapers about the end of everything.

The message played through the speakers, the hollow words echoing like whispers in the back of your mind, as if someone was behind you whispering in your ear, chilling everyone to their soul as the voice in the darkness gave one final message.

"_I am the Dark One. My brethren, your end of days finally approaches. This Cycle of Extinction shall be your last. There will be no mercy. There is nothing you can do to stop the destruction that will be brought upon you. You have performed your function exactly as I planned. Once you are gone, the rest of the galaxy will fulfill their function…in death. Prepare to meet your doom." _

* * *

><p><strong>And, that's the last of it. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think about the story in general. I hope the Dark One lived up to your every expectations as a villain. I was trying to leave the commonly used 'the reapers are coming and we must destroy them' plot for a 'the reapers are coming and if we beat them we're screwed' plot. Do you think I should write a sequel, showing what happens when the Dark One does arrive and what Shepard does to try to save the galaxy again? If this story does well enough I just might. Once again, I hope you enjoyed this, please review, and thank you for reading. <strong>


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